Clinical outcome and adverse effects of electroconvulsive therapy in elderly psychiatric patients

We evaluated the short-term outcome and side effects of electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) in a population of elderly psychiatric patients. The material included patients consecutively hospitalized at a psychogeriatric department within a period of 5 years. From a total number of 239 patients, we included 52 treated with ECT (22%). Altogether, 41 patients (79%) improved clinically. Of them, 21 (40%) of the patients went home after the treatment. Twenty patients (38%) developed adverse reactions from the ECT treatment. Impaired memory (14%), confusion (6%), and hypertension (6%) represented the most commonly reported negative reactions secondary to the treatment. The findings from the study support previous assumptions that ECT is effective in the treatment of serious psychiatric disorders in elderly patients. Because of the relative high frequency of side effects, the patients should be selected carefully.