Electroconvulsive Therapy in Old-Old Patients

The authors compared falls, cardiovascular factors, confusion, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and metabolic side effects for “old-old” (>75 years) patient groups treated with either electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or pharmacotherapy. A subset of a pharmacotherapy patient group was selected to match...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of geriatric psychiatry 2000, Vol.8 (3), p.232-236
Main Authors: Manly, David T., Oakley, Stanley P., Bloch, Richard M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antidepressive Agents - adverse effects
Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use
Case-Control Studies
Confusion - etiology
Depressive Disorder - drug therapy
Depressive Disorder - therapy
Electroconvulsive Therapy - adverse effects
Female
Humans
Length of Stay
Male
Retrospective Studies
Treatment Outcome
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The authors compared falls, cardiovascular factors, confusion, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and metabolic side effects for “old-old” (>75 years) patient groups treated with either electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or pharmacotherapy. A subset of a pharmacotherapy patient group was selected to match for age, sex, and diagnosis in a case-control design. Side effects were recorded from each selected patient's medical record and compared between groups. Patients receiving ECT showed fewer cardiovascular and gastrointestinal side effects. Patients receiving ECT had longer lengths of stay and more favorable outcomes. Overall, there was a tendency for ECT to result in fewer side effects and better treatment outcomes. ECT appears to be relatively safe and more effective than pharmacotherapy for major depressive disorders in old-old patients.
ISSN:1064-7481
1545-7214
DOI:10.1097/00019442-200008000-00009