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Older Adults in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Trials: A Systematic Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2024

L. Bouchet ,
Z. Sager ,
A. Yrondi ,
N. Kabir ,
B. Anderson ,
S. Ross ,
P. Petridis  and
Y. Beaussant
L. Bouchet*
Affiliation:
1Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy, CHU de Toulouse 2Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III - Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Toulouse, France
Z. Sager
Affiliation:
3Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care, Dana Farber Cancer Institute 4Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care, Harvard Medical School
A. Yrondi
Affiliation:
1Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy, CHU de Toulouse 2Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III - Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Toulouse, France
N. Kabir
Affiliation:
5Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital 6Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston
B. Anderson
Affiliation:
7Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco
S. Ross
Affiliation:
8Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine 9NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New-York , United States
P. Petridis
Affiliation:
8Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine 9NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New-York , United States
Y. Beaussant
Affiliation:
3Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care, Dana Farber Cancer Institute 4Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care, Harvard Medical School
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Growing clinical interest in psychedelic-assisted therapies has led to a second wave of research involving psilocybin, LSD, MDMA and other substances. Data suggests that these compounds have the potential to treat mental health conditions that are especially prevalent in older adults such as depression, anxiety, existential distress and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Objectives

The goal of this study was to quantify the prevalence of older adults enrolled in psychedelic clinical trials and explore safety data in this population.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted following the 2020 PRISMA guidelines. Search criteria included all trials published in English using psychedelic substances to treat psychiatric conditions, including addiction as well as existential distress related to serious illness. Articles were identified from literature searches on PubMed, EBSCO and EMBASE.

Results

4,376 manuscripts were identified, of which 505 qualified for further review, with 36 eventually meeting eligibility criteria. Of the 1,400 patients enrolled in the 36 studies, only 19 were identified as 65 or older, representing less than 1.4% of all trial participants. For 10 of these 19 older adults, detailed safety data was obtained. No serious adverse events (AEs) occurred in any older adults and only transient mild-to-moderate AEs related to anxiety, gastrointestinal upset, and hypertension were reported during the psychedelic dosing sessions.

Conclusions

While existing data in older adults is limited, it suggests that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is safe and well tolerated in older adults. Therefore, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy should be more rigorously investigated for the treatment of psychiatric conditions in this population.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 67 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 32nd European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2024 , pp. S232
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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