Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41210131›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2025

Associations between psychedelic use and adverse outcomes in substance use disorders: a real-world EHR-based cohort study.

Fares Qeadan, Ashlie McCunn, Benjamin Tingey, Paul Thielking

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Fares QeadanLoyola University Chicago, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Maywood, IL, United States.
Ashlie McCunnLoyola University Chicago, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Maywood, IL, United States.
Benjamin TingeyLoyola University Chicago, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Maywood, IL, United States.
Paul ThielkingUniversity of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Aims: To examine associations between psychedelic use and adverse health outcomes, including overdose, relapse, mental health crises, and hospitalizations, among individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), and to compare these outcomes across different treatment modalities including anesthetics and outpatient SUD services. Design: Retrospective cohort study using propensity score-weighted quasi-Poisson regression models to estimate adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs). Setting: Data were drawn from Oracle EHR Real-World Data™ comprising 138 U.S. health systems restricted to those ≥12 years old from January 1, 2000, to August 31, 2023. Participants: 3,209,798 patients with a documented SUD diagnosis from 2000 to 2023. Patients with a prior history of psychedelic use or hallucinogen-related diagnoses were excluded. The final cohort included 8,514 new psychedelic users and over 3.2 million non-users. Measurements: Exposures were captured during a 3-month post-index period and included outpatient psychedelic prescriptions or procedures (primarily ketamine), general anesthetic outpatient prescriptions, and outpatient SUD services. Outcomes, assessed over 2 years, included SUD-related hospitalizations/emergency department (ED) visits, mental health crises, all-drug overdoses, and relapse. Propensity scores accounted for demographic, clinical, and behavioral confounders. Findings: Psychedelic use was associated with significantly reduced rates of all adverse outcomes, including all-drug overdose (aIRR F;= F;0.48; 95% CI: 0.37-0.63), relapse (aIRR F;= F;0.68; 0.60-0.77), SUD hospitalizations/ED visits (aIRR F;= F;0.76; 0.69-0.82), and mental health crises (aIRR F;= F;0.82; 0.73-0.92), compared to no treatment. The combination of psychedelics, anesthetics, and outpatient services was associated with the strongest reduction in mental health crises (aIRR F;= F;0.21; 0.06-0.77). Trends were consistent in sensitivity analyses including patients with mental health conditions and comparisons to medication-assisted treatment. Conclusions: In this large national cohort, psychedelic use, particularly when combined with anesthetic and outpatient care, was associated with reduced adverse health outcomes among people with SUD. These findings support further investigation into psychedelic-based interventions within integrated treatment frameworks.

Indexed as

drug overdoseelectronic health recordsketaminemental healthpsychedelicsreal-world evidencerelapsesubstance use disorder

Identifiers

PMID41210131
PMCPMC12592884

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