Trends in Ketamine Use, Exposures, and Seizures in the United States up to 2019.

Abstract

<b>Objectives.</b> To determine whether there have been shifts in nonmedical ketamine use, poisonings ("exposures"), and seizures. <b>Methods.</b> We used generalized additive models to detect trends in past-year use (2006-2019), exposures (1991-2019), and seizures (2000-2019) involving ketamine in the United States. <b>Results.</b> There was a quarterly increase in self-reported past-year nonmedical ketamine use in 2006 to 2014 (Β = 0.21; <i>P</i> = .030) and an increase in 2015 to 2019 (Β = 0.29; <i>P</i> = .036), reaching a peak of 0.9% in late 2019. The rate of exposures increased from 1991 through 2019 (Β = 0.87; <i>P</i> = .006), and there was an increase to 1.1 exposures per 1 000 000 population in 2014, with rates remaining stable through 2019. The rate of ketamine seizures increased from 2000 through 2019 (Β = 2.27; <i>P</i> < .001), with seizures reaching a peak in 2019 at 3.2 per 1000 seizures. <b>Conclusions.</b> Indicators suggest that ketamine use and availability has increased, including before increased medical indications, but nonmedical use is still currently uncommon despite increased acceptance and media coverage. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. 2021;111(11):2046-2049. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306486).