Abstract
Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a tree native to Southeast Asia with long history of traditional medicinal use. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of self-reported experiences as shared on YouTube™ videos. A total of 500 videos with 19,478,180 views and 134,863 comments emerged as result from the data scrape extracted via the YouTube Data Tool. 12 out of the 16 most viewed videos were manually processed and selected for inductive thematic analysis. Kratom was used to self-medicate a number of health conditions, including opioid dependence/addiction (83.4%), pain (75%), anxiety (67%), depression (42%), substance use (42%) as well as to boost energy (50%), elevate mood (25%) and its nootropic effects (25%). Although most of the described experiences were positive (58%), side-effects, such as dependence and withdrawal (50%), nausea (42%), loss of appetite (25%), sedation (25%), loss of motivation (16.7%), were also reported. These were associated in the 25% of the cases with chronic ingestions. Overall, it was found that Kratom was mainly used for self-medication, rather than recreational purposes, justifying the need for further clinical studies to better assess the safety and the efficacy of its use in a therapeutic context.
Highlights
Mitragyna speciosa, most commonly known as Kratom, and Biak or Ketum, Kakuam, Ithang or Thom, grows native in Southeast Asia, in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia
Four videos were excluded from our study
Building on previous online surveys (Coe et al, 2019; Grundmann, 2017) and analysis of Kratom’s experiences on fora (Swogger et al, 2015), our study is the first one to have considered the first-person video accounts shared on YouTubeTM to better understand uses, motivations, perceptions and potential risks related to its unsupervised applicability
Summary
Most commonly known as Kratom, and Biak or Ketum, Kakuam, Ithang or Thom, grows native in Southeast Asia, in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Mitragynine is found to produce an effect on other receptors such as the serotonin (5-HT) 2A, 5HT2C and 5-HT7, adenosine-2a, dopamine-2, and postsynaptic alpha-2 adrenergic receptor (Boyer et al, 2008; Kruegel and Grundmann, 2018; Matsumoto et al, 1997). This broad pharmacological profile largely explains its wide, and sometimes contradictory behavioural actions at different titrations, some of which have been observed in animal models including anxiolytic-like (Hazim et al, 2014), antidepressant (Idayu et al, 2011), and antipsychotic effects (Vijeepallam et al, 2016).
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