Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for moderate-severity major depression among the elderly: Data from the pride study
Søren Dinesen Østergaard, Maria Speed, Charles H. Kellner, Martina Mueller, Shawn M. McClintock, Mustafa M. Husain, Georgios Petrides, W. Vaughn McCall, Sarah H. Lisanby
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is usually reserved for treatment of severe major depressive disorder (MDD), but may be equally effective in the treatment of moderate-severity MDD. This possibility, however, has only been studied to a very limited extent. We therefore investigated the efficacy of ECT after stratifying patients into severe MDD and moderate-severity MDD. METHODS: total scores <12 were considered to have moderate-severity MDD. RESULTS: total score ≤4) (Pearson's 2-sample chi-squared test of difference between groups: p = 0.27). LIMITATIONS: The PRIDE study was not designed to address this research question. CONCLUSIONS: ECT combined with venlafaxine appears to be an effective treatment for moderate-severity MDD. It may be appropriate to expand the indications for ECT to include patients with moderate-severity MDD.