All-cause mortality among recipients of electroconvulsive therapy: register-based cohort study.
BACKGROUND
Studies investigating mortality secondary to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are few.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the risk of mortality from natural and unnatural causes among ECT recipients compared with other psychiatric in-patients over a 25-year period.


METHODS
Register-based cohort study of all in-patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital from 1976 to 2000. Cause-specific mortality was analysed using log-linear Poisson regression.


RESULTS
There were 783 deceased in-patients who had received ECT compared with 5781 who had not. Patients who had received ECT had a lower overall mortality rate from natural causes (RR=0.82, 95% CI 0.74-0.90) but a slightly higher suicide rate (RR=1.20, 95% CI 0.99-1.47), especially within the first 7 days after the last ECT treatment (RR=4.82, 95% CI 2.12-10.95).


CONCLUSIONS
Further investigation of the effect of ECT on physical health and the observed increased suicide rate immediately following treatment are needed, although the last finding is likely to result from selection bias.
Munk-Olsen
Trine
T
National Centre for Register-Based Research, University of Aarhus, Aarhus C, Denmark. tmo@ncrr.dk
Laursen
Thomas Munk
TM
Videbech
Poul
P
Mortensen
Preben Bo
PB
Rosenberg
Raben
R
D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D012042:Registries; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012306:Risk; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data