Advocates and users of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have received further scientific backing: a retrospective cohort study has provided further evidence that ECT can prevent suicide among severely depressed patients.
The patient cohort comprised 27,231 men and 40,096 women who had been treated as inpatients. The average age was 45.1 years (range: 18-103 years), and 4982 patients received ECT. The primary endpoint was death by suicide within 365 days of hospital discharge. The secondary endpoints were death not by suicide and total mortality. The cause-specific hazard ratio (csHR) was calculated for patients with ECT, compared with patients without ECT.
In the propensity score-weighted analysis, ECT was linked to a significantly reduced suicide risk (csHR: 0.53; 95% CI, 0.31 - 0.92). According to the calculations, ECT was associated with a significantly decreased total mortality risk (hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.58 - 0.97). However, this was not the case for death from causes other than suicide.
The authors, led by Tyler S. Kaster, PhD, a psychiatrist at Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada, concluded that this study underlines the importance of ECT, in particular for people with severe depression.
A Well-Tested Therapy
ECT has been used for decades as a substantial tool for the treatment of patients with severe mental illnesses.
