A Real-World Study on the Use, Effectiveness, and Safety of Esketamine Nasal Spray in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression: INTEGRATE Study

Abstract

Introduction

The INTEGRATE study aimed to provide information on the use, effectiveness, and safety of esketamine nasal spray (ESK-NS) for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in real-world practice in Spain.

Methods

This was an observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study conducted in adults aged 18–74 years who met the criteria for TRD. The weekly impact of ESK-NS on depressive symptoms was evaluated by clinical judgment using four categories (nonresponse, response, remission, not available). The onset of action 24 h after administration was also evaluated. Information on adverse events was collected from the medical records.

Results

We included 196 patients, of whom 189 were considered evaluable; the mean (SD) number of previous episodes was 3.7 (3.0). According to the investigator’s judgment, 152 (80.4%) of 189 patients were in response or remission in the induction phase, and 54 (90%) of 60 during the maintenance phase. The proportions of patients in remission were 9.5%, 18.7%, and 38.3% during the induction, optimization, and maintenance phases, respectively. Fifty-three (28.0%) patients experienced an improvement in depressive symptoms within the first 24 h after the first administration of ESK-NS. Most adverse events reported with ESK-NS were mild and did not require any action with the study drug; the number of adverse events decreased over time, especially during the first 4 weeks.

Conclusion

Consistent with the available evidence, the results of this study indicate that ESK-NS is an effective and safe option to consider within the therapeutic algorithm for TRD.