Does Gender Influence Electroconvulsive Therapy Sessions Required across Psychiatric Diagnoses? A 5-Year Experience from a Single Center

CONTEXT: There is a paucity of systematic data reflecting the practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) from developing countries. AIM: We aimed to identify the number of ECT sessions required to yield response and gender diffeferences in the number of sessions across various diagnostic categories. SETTING AND DESIGN: A record-based study from a teaching cum tertiary care hospital in South India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Case records of patients who received modified ECT from January 2011 to January 2016 were reviewed. The sociodemographic details and ECT-related data were collected. Psychiatric diagnoses were ascertained as per the International Classification of Diseases, 10(th) Revision criteria. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U-test. RESULTS: Among 148 patients, 82 (55.4%) had mood disorder (bipolar disorder and recurrent depressive disorder), 43 (29.1%) had schizophrenia, and 22 (14.9%) had other acute and transient psychotic disorders (ATPDs). Patients with mood disorders, schizophrenia, and other ATPD received 7.3 (± 3.8), 9.7 (± 6.1), and 5.4 (± 2.0) ECT sessions, respectively, to achieve response. There was no gender difference in the number of sessions received. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that number of ECT sessions required to yield response may be disorder-specific. Gender does not influence the ECT dose requirement. Variations in ECT parameters across settings may limit the generalizability of results.