Abstract
Context:: There is a paucity of systematic data reflecting the practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) from developing countries. Aim:: We aimed to identify the number of ECT sessions required to yield response and gender diffeferences in the number of sessions across various diagnostic categories. Setting and Design:: A record-based study from a teaching cum tertiary care hospital in South India. Subjects and Methods:: Case records of patients who received modified ECT from January 2011 to January 2016 were reviewed. The sociodemographic details and ECT-related data were collected. Psychiatric diagnoses were ascertained as per the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision criteria. Statistical Analysis Used:: KruskalWallis test and MannWhitney U-test. Results:: Among 148 patients, 82 (55.4%) had mood disorder (bipolar disorder and recurrent depressive disorder), 43 (29.1%) had schizophrenia, and 22 (14.9%) had other acute and transient psychotic disorders (ATPDs). Patients with mood disorders, schizophrenia, and other ATPD received 7.3 ( 3.8), 9.7 ( 6.1), and 5.4 ( 2.0) ECT sessions, respectively, to achieve response. There was no gender difference in the number of sessions received. Conclusion:: Our findings show that number of ECT sessions required to yield response may be disorder-specific. Gender does not influence the ECT dose requirement. Variations in ECT parameters across settings may limit the generalizability of results.
Copyright
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.
