title: The maintenance of modified electroconvulsive therapy combined with risperidone is better than risperidone alone in preventing relapse of schizophrenia and improving cognitive function.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of maintenance modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) on schizophrenic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  From June 2012 to June 2014, 62 patients with schizophrenia, who had recovered from a successful course of acute MECT, were recruited. Thirty-one patients received maintenance MECT and risperidone, as the experimental group. Another 31 patients were enrolled in the control group, and received risperidone only. The effects on cognitive functions, clinical symptoms and relapse rate were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients in the experimental group had a lower relapse rate and longer relapse-free survival time than the controls. Relative to the baseline evaluation, patients showed statistically significant improvement in verbal memory and visual memory. At the final assessment, the scores of verbal and visual memory were remarkably lower in the experimental group than the controls but there was no significant difference in other tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maintenance MECT plus medication is superior to medication alone in preventing relapse and improving cognitive function.
authors.affiliation: Shandong University, Shandong Province, China.|Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Qingzhi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Renjun
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zengxun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Qilu Children's Hospital of Shandong University, Department of Pediatrics, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Shandong University, Shandong Province, China.|Shandong Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jintong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000379:methods; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018967:Risperidone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D018967:Risperidone