title: Two-year follow-up of cognitive functions in schizophrenia spectrum disorders of adolescent patients treated with electroconvulsive therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the current study was to investigate the long-term cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in a sample of adolescent patients in whom schizophrenia spectrum disorders were diagnosed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was composed of nine adolescent subjects in whom schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder was diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR criteria on whom ECT was conducted (ECT group) and nine adolescent subjects matched by age, socioeconomic status, and diagnostic and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score at baseline on whom ECT was not conducted (NECT group). Clinical and neuropsychological assessments were carried out at baseline before ECT treatment and at 2-year follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant differences were found between groups in the number of unsuccessful medication trials. No statistically significant differences were found between the ECT group and the NECT group in either severity as assessed by the PANSS, or in any cognitive variables at baseline. At follow-up, both groups showed significant improvement in clinical variables (subscales of positive, general, and total scores of PANSS and Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement). In the cognitive assessment at follow-up, significant improvement was found in both groups in the semantic category of verbal fluency task and digits forward. However, no significant differences were found between groups in any clinical or cognitive variable at follow-up. Repeated measures analysis found no significant interaction of time×group in any clinical or neuropsychological measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study showed no significant differences in change over time in clinical or neuropsychological variables between the ECT group and the NECT group at 2-year follow-up. Thus, ECT did not show any negative influence on long-term neuropsychological variables in our sample.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Barcelona, Spain. eserna@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de la Serna
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Flamarique
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro-Fornieles
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pons
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Puig
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrés-Perpiña
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lázaro
authors.forename: Juan Miguel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Garrido
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardo
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baeza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology