Declining access to electroconvulsive therapy: A clinical choice or an economic one?
Thursday, January 10, 2013 - 09:00
in Health & Medicine
Horrific images from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest notwithstanding, modern electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains one of the safest and most effective antidepressant treatments, particularly for patients who do not tolerate antidepressant medications or depression symptoms that have failed to respond to antidepressant medications. A new study suggests that reductions in ECT treatment have an economic basis. From 1993 to 2009, there was a progressive decline in the number of hospitals offering ECT treatment, resulting in an approximately 43 percent drop in the number of psychiatric inpatients receiving ECT.