title: Dexamethasone Suppression Test as a Predictor of Response to Electroconvulsive Therapy. II. Six-Month Follow-Up.
abstract: In an earlier study, the dexamethasone suppression test, obtained 3-6 days after hospital admission, did not reliably predict the proportion of clinical remissions or the degree of improvement experienced by severely-depressed inpatients undergoing a course of ECT. In this regard, about 75% of initial suppressors and nonsuppressors showed remission, and those nonsuppressors who subsequently normalized did not show a better clinical response than persistent nonsuppressors. In keeping with the findings of Coryell and Zimmerman (1983) we also found that persistent nonsuppressors had a better clinical outcome 6 months after discharge than did initial nonsuppressors who normalized by discharge.
authors.affiliation: Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald S.
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Lipman
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Uffner
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schwalb
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravetz
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lief
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levenberg