A real-world study examining the impact of esketamine nasal spray in people living with major depressive disorder in Australia and New Zealand

Esketamine has been approved in Australia and New Zealand as a third-line antidepressant treatment for Treatment Resistant Depression. This study describes changes in quality of life, depressive symptoms and productivity in participants treated with esketamine in real-world settings. Participants were recruited from an esketamine Early Access Program and had not responded to two or more different antidepressants and not received neurostimulation for their current depressive episode. Participants received esketamine for 16 weeks or longer. Data collected included Assessment of Quality-of-Life scale (AQoL-8D), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Work Productivity Activity Index (WPAI). Participants (n=105) had a mean age of 38.7 years (standard deviation (SD)=14.6) and were predominantly female (59.0%). The mean duration of MDD illness was 7.2 years (SD=4.2) and almost half of participants had been treated with 3 to 5 prior therapies. After 16-weeks on esketamine, participants showed improvement of greater than 10% across all dimensions of AQoL-8D, HAM-D scores decreased 8.0 points, and activity impairment decreased 20.4% as measured by WPAI. This was a non-randomized and unblinded study and may have selection and reporting bias. The population was not necessarily representative of the broader Australian and New Zealand population. It is not possible to determine if the results will be sustained or changed if participants received treatment for longer. Esketamine early access program participants, who were a real-world cohort with extensive prior treatment, showed clinically significant improvements in quality of life, depression severity and productivity after 16-weeks on treatment.