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Cited by 87Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesForensic Toxicology and Drug AnalysisHIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk

Gender differences in subjective discontinuation symptoms associated with ketamine use

Open access
Chen, Wen-Yin, Huang, Ming-Chyi, Lin, Shih-Ku·2014·Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy
DOI 10.1186/1747-597x-9-39PMC PMC4183767
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent substance abuse research indicates gender differences in the substance-related epidemiology, biological responses, progression to dependence, medical consequences and treatments. Studies exploring human sex-different responses to ketamine are rare and there has been no systemic survey of gender differences in ketamine use. Determining whether females are more susceptible than males to ketamine withdrawal symptoms and adverse effects is important, because it associated with treatment retention and outcome in drug users. METHODS: The Taiwanese juridical system has implemented a new regulation on ketamine in the year 2009. Ketamine users who are caught by the police, are mandated to attend an educational program. We recruited ketamine offenders from February 2010 to May 2012 at the Kunming branch of the Taipei City Hospital, where the educational classes are held. A designed questionnaire was performed to gather information about demographic characteristics, discontinuation symptoms, concomitant use of other substances, and subjective experience of memory impairment or urinary discomforts, and to compare the gender differences. RESULTS: A total of 1,614 ketamine users were surveyed and most of them were males (83.8%), with an average age of 26.3 ± 5.4 years. Female ketamine users presented significantly more discontinuation symptoms such as anxiety, dysphoria, and tremors compared with male users. 72.4% of total ketamine users smoked cigarettes concomitantly. Male ketamine users had a higher rate of concomitant betel nut use, while female ketamine users had a higher rate of concomitant hypnotic and alcohol use. 76% of total ketamine users reported cognitive impairment and 51.6% mentioned urinary symptoms. Furthermore, female ketamine users self-reported significantly greater levels of severity in cognitive impairment and urinary discomforts compared with male users. Less than 10% of total ketamine users in our study reported the desire to transfer for medical intervention or treatment, despite the high rates of discontinuation symptoms and negative physical side effects. CONCLUSIONS: Gender differences were noted in the subjective experience of discontinuation symptoms, concomitant substance use, and severity of impairment related to ketamine use. However, the probable cause of the gender differences found in this study requires further investigation. We hoped our study will stimulate further research in this field.

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  • A case has been described in which PSSD symptoms were part of a broader syndrome diagnosed as persistent post-withdrawal disorder.

    “Recently, it has been described the case of a patient in which PSSD symptoms were part of a broader syndrome which was diagnosed as persistent post-withdrawal disorder [129].”

    From Acute and Persistent Withdrawal Syndromes Following Discontinuation of Psychotropic Medications (2020) · cites this paper as [129]

    The Discussion > Discontinuation symptoms passage concerns ketamine withdrawal, not PSSD or a diagnosis of persistent post-withdrawal disorder. Searches for those terms and for a patient case found no passage in our copy addressing the claimed case. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
Chen, W.-Y., Huang, M.-C., & Lin, S.-K.
Affiliations
Taipei City Hospital (TW)
Corresponding author
Lin, Shih-Ku
ORCID
Venue
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2014-09-22
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
39-39
ISSN
1747-597X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1747-597x-9-39
PMC
PMC4183767
OpenAlex
W2150914643
Cited by
87
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1
FWCI
4.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Substance Abuse Treatment Prevention and Policy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Council
  • Taipei City Government
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
Keywords
ketamine, gender differences, discontinuation symptoms, cognitive impairment, urinary symptoms, areca nut, alcohol consumption, hypnotic use, treatment retention
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Analgesics, Female, Humans, Ketamine, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors, Substance Withdrawal Syndrome, Taiwan, Substance-Related Disorders, Young Adult

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