One-Year Clinical Outcomes Following Electroconvulsive Therapy for Patients with Schizophrenia: A Nationwide Health Insurance Data-Based Study

BACKGROUND: Although the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of schizophrenia has decreased since the advent of antipsychotic drugs, ECT is still implemented in several clinical indications. However, a few population-based studies have examined its real-world effectiveness in schizophrenia. METHODS: We used data from 2010 to 2019 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database in the Republic of Korea. We selected 380 schizophrenia patients having more than six ECT sessions and 1140 patient controls matched for age, sex, calendar year at entry, and the number of psychiatric hospitalizations before the time point of start of psychiatric hospitalization for ECT. Antipsychotic treatment discontinuation, psychiatric hospitalization, and direct medical costs were used as measures of clinical outcomes. Multiple regression analysis was used for any group-by-time interaction effect, and 1-year pre- and post-ECT periods were compared within and between the groups. RESULTS: We found a significantly lower number of antipsychotic treatment discontinuations in the ECT group during the 1-year post-ECT period (t=2.195, p=0.028). A larger decrease was found in the number of psychiatric hospitalizations in the ECT group, with a group-by-time interaction effect (p=0.043). The direct medical costs in the 1-year pre- (t=−8.782, p<0.001) and post-ECT periods (t=−9.107, p<0.001) were higher in the ECT group than in the control group, with no significant change across both periods. CONCLUSION: We found that the ECT group had a larger decrease in the number of psychiatric hospitalizations in the 1-year post-ECT period than the control group.