Cargando…

Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is commonly used to treat depression in older adults. Despite its efficacy in this regard, an associated increase in the risk of falls in this population is a downside of treatment. ECT research has focused on the incidence of falls, but its effect on bala...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Plakiotis, Chris, Barson, Fay, Vengadasalam, Bharathi, Haines, Terry P, O’Connor, Daniel W
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678917/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23766650
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S42628
_version_ 1782272925633609728
author Plakiotis, Chris
Barson, Fay
Vengadasalam, Bharathi
Haines, Terry P
O’Connor, Daniel W
author_facet Plakiotis, Chris
Barson, Fay
Vengadasalam, Bharathi
Haines, Terry P
O’Connor, Daniel W
author_sort Plakiotis, Chris
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is commonly used to treat depression in older adults. Despite its efficacy in this regard, an associated increase in the risk of falls in this population is a downside of treatment. ECT research has focused on the incidence of falls, but its effect on balance and gait – intrinsic factors in instability and falls – has not been studied. Our aim was to examine changes in balance and gait among older adults before and after a single ECT session and explore the effect of patient-related and treatment factors on any changes found. METHODS: Participants were 21 older adults requiring ECT for depression in public psychiatric services. Patients with clinically overt mobility problems (impairing test participation or increasing the risk of falls) were excluded. Balance and gait testing 1 hour pre-ECT and 1, 2 and 3 hours post-ECT included: (1) steady standing test; (2) perturbation of standing balance by self-initiated movements; (3) perturbation of standing balance by an external perturbation; and (4) timed up and go test. RESULTS: No deterioration in test performance was found, using one-way repeated measures analysis of variance. CONCLUSION: Balance and gait did not deteriorate immediately after ECT. Exclusion of participants with clinically overt mobility problems and falls being better attributable to factors unrelated to balance and gait (such as post-ECT confusion) may account for our findings. This research does not repudiate the occurrence of ECT-related falls but calls into question the utility of introducing routine balance and gait assessment among older ECT recipients without pre-existing mobility problems as a means of preventing them.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3678917
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2013
publisher Dove Medical Press
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-36789172013-06-13 Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study Plakiotis, Chris Barson, Fay Vengadasalam, Bharathi Haines, Terry P O’Connor, Daniel W Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat Short Report BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is commonly used to treat depression in older adults. Despite its efficacy in this regard, an associated increase in the risk of falls in this population is a downside of treatment. ECT research has focused on the incidence of falls, but its effect on balance and gait – intrinsic factors in instability and falls – has not been studied. Our aim was to examine changes in balance and gait among older adults before and after a single ECT session and explore the effect of patient-related and treatment factors on any changes found. METHODS: Participants were 21 older adults requiring ECT for depression in public psychiatric services. Patients with clinically overt mobility problems (impairing test participation or increasing the risk of falls) were excluded. Balance and gait testing 1 hour pre-ECT and 1, 2 and 3 hours post-ECT included: (1) steady standing test; (2) perturbation of standing balance by self-initiated movements; (3) perturbation of standing balance by an external perturbation; and (4) timed up and go test. RESULTS: No deterioration in test performance was found, using one-way repeated measures analysis of variance. CONCLUSION: Balance and gait did not deteriorate immediately after ECT. Exclusion of participants with clinically overt mobility problems and falls being better attributable to factors unrelated to balance and gait (such as post-ECT confusion) may account for our findings. This research does not repudiate the occurrence of ECT-related falls but calls into question the utility of introducing routine balance and gait assessment among older ECT recipients without pre-existing mobility problems as a means of preventing them. Dove Medical Press 2013 2013-06-05 /pmc/articles/PMC3678917/ /pubmed/23766650 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S42628 Text en © 2013 Plakiotis et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Short Report
Plakiotis, Chris
Barson, Fay
Vengadasalam, Bharathi
Haines, Terry P
O’Connor, Daniel W
Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study
title Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study
title_full Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study
title_fullStr Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study
title_full_unstemmed Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study
title_short Balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study
title_sort balance and gait in older electroconvulsive therapy recipients: a pilot study
topic Short Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678917/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23766650
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S42628
work_keys_str_mv AT plakiotischris balanceandgaitinolderelectroconvulsivetherapyrecipientsapilotstudy
AT barsonfay balanceandgaitinolderelectroconvulsivetherapyrecipientsapilotstudy
AT vengadasalambharathi balanceandgaitinolderelectroconvulsivetherapyrecipientsapilotstudy
AT hainesterryp balanceandgaitinolderelectroconvulsivetherapyrecipientsapilotstudy
AT oconnordanielw balanceandgaitinolderelectroconvulsivetherapyrecipientsapilotstudy