ECT Utilization in the Treatment of Catatonic Patients in the United States: A Nationwide In-Patient Sample Analysis

Introduction Primary objective was to evaluate baseline characteristics for catatonic patients treated with and without electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). We also studied the trends of ECT utilization in catatonia patients. Methods The Nationwide Inpatient Sample data were used to compare patients and hospital-level characteristics between catatonic patients treated with and without ECT in the United States. Multivariate and trend analysis were performed. Results Electroconvulsive therapy was performed in 8.3% in patients with the diagnosis of catatonia (n = 24,311; mean age, 43.1; 38% White; 52.1% male). Racially, more patients in the ECT group were White (47% vs 38%) and had a comorbid diagnosis of major depressive disorder. In the multivariate analysis, the odds of receiving ECT was more with increase in age (P = 0.007). Urban area hospitals had 3 times higher odds of receiving ECT (P = 0.001) compared with rural hospitals. The odds of receiving ECT for catatonia were the highest for large bed hospitals compared with small/medium size (P
Source: The Journal of ECT - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Original Studies Source Type: research