OBJECTIVES: To determine whether there have been shifts in nonmedical ketamine use, poisonings (“exposures”), and seizures.
METHODS: 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.
RESULTS: There was a quarterly increase in self-reported past-year nonmedical ketamine use in 2006 to 2014 (β = 0.21; P = .030) and an increase in 2015 to 2019 (β = 0.29; P = .036), reaching a peak of 0.9% in late 2019. The rate of exposures increased from 1991 through 2019 (β = 0.87; P = .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; P < .001), with seizures reaching a peak in 2019 at 3.2 per 1000 seizures.
CONCLUSIONS: 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.
Trends in ketamine use, exposures, and seizures in the United States
American Journal of Public Health, 111 (11), 2046-2049. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306486. PMCID: PMC8630483.