The Effects of Continuation-Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy on Reducing Hospital Re-Admissions in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia

Kyung Mook Choi; Soo-Hee Choi; Jung Kyung Hong; Mi Hyun Lee; Joon Hyung Jung; Sang Hoon Oh; Dong Chung Jung; Sung Nyun Kim

doi:10.9758/cpn.2018.16.3.339

The Effects of Continuation-Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy on Reducing Hospital Re-Admissions in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia

Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2018 Aug 31;16(3):339-342. doi: 10.9758/cpn.2018.16.3.339.

Authors

Kyung Mook Choi¹, Soo-Hee Choi^{1

2}, Jung Kyung Hong¹, Mi Hyun Lee¹, Joon Hyung Jung¹, Sang Hoon Oh¹, Dong Chung Jung¹, Sung Nyun Kim¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
² Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Human Behavioral Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Objective: Continuation-maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (C/M-ECT) is used to prevent relapse or recurrence in patients with severe mental illnesses. We aimed to investigate the effect of C/M-ECT on reducing hospital re-admissions in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Methods: We applied a mirror-image design by retrospectively examining re-hospitalization rates of 18 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. We compared the numbers of psychiatric admissions during the actual period over which C/M-ECT was administered with the same period prior to the beginning of C/M-ECT.

Results: The number of psychiatric admissions was reduced significantly during C/M-ECT (0.33±0.77) compared with that of the same period prior to C/M-ECT (2.67±1.33) (Wilcoxon signed rank Z=-3.663; p＜0.001).

Conclusion: This finding shows that C/M-ECT augmentation could successfully reduce the re-hospitalization rates in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Keywords: Electroconvulsive therapy; Hospitalization.; Recurrence; Schizophrenia; Treatment-resistance.