Experience of using electroconvulsive therapy for bipolar disorder: A retrospective study from North India.

BACKGROUND

Little information is available on response to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) from India.

AIM: This exploratory study aims to evaluate and compare the sociodemographic and clinical profiles, treatment outcomes of BD patients with depression and mania/mixed episode who received ECT and to evaluate the predictors of response to ECT.

RESULTS

Data of 278 BD patients who received 325 ECT courses were extracted from the ECT register. The number courses of ECT for bipolar depression (n = 202) exceeded those for mania/mixed episodes (n = 123). In terms of response to ECT, >75% response was achieved in 63.3% cases and >50% response was seen in about 90% of the patients. No significant difference was seen in response to ECTs between bipolar depression and mania/mixed episodes.

CONCLUSION

The present study suggests that about two-thirds of the BD patients show more than 75% response to ECT, and more than 90% of the BD patients show more than 50% response to ECT.