Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-5r2nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-24T09:52:18.133Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Efficacy of Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Treatment of Schizophrenia

A Comparative Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

K. R. Abraham  and
P. Kulhara
K. R. Abraham
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Government Medical College, Kottayam, Kerala, India)
P. Kulhara*
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Government Medical College, Kottayam, Kerala, India)
*
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh-160012, India
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The efficacy of ECT was investigated in a double-blind trial. Twenty-two patients with schizophrenia received trifluoperazine and were randomly allocated to receive eight real or eight simulated ECTs. In the first eight weeks, the group receiving real ECTs showed significantly more improvement as measured on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. However, the groups showed no significant differences from the twelfth week onwards. The superiority of real ECT was not confirmed at the end of six months.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 151 , Issue 2 , August 1987 , pp. 152 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1987 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, R. (1975) ECT and psychotropic drugs. In Rational Psychopharmacology and the Right to Treatment (ed. Ayd, F. J.). Baltimore: Ayd Medical Communications.Google Scholar
Berg, S., Gabriel, A. R. & Impastato, D. J. (1959) Comparative evaluation of the safety of chlorpromazine and reserpine used in conjunction with ECT. Journal of Neuropsychiatry 1, 104–107.Google Scholar
Brandon, S., Cowley, P., Mcdonald, C., Neville, P., Palmer, R. & Wellstood-Eason, S. (1985) Leicester ECT trial: results in schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 177–183.Google Scholar
Childers, R. T. (1964) Comparison of four regimes in newly admitted female schizophrenics. American Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 1010–1011.Google Scholar
El-Islam, M. F., Ahmed, S. A. & Erjan, M. E. (1970) The effect of ECT on schizophrenic delusions and hallucinations. British Journal of Psychiatry, 117, 447–448.Google Scholar
Ford, H. & Jameson, G. K. (1955) Chlorpromazine in conjunction with other psychiatric therapies. Diseases of the Nervous System, 16, 179–185.Google ScholarPubMed
Gambill, J. M. & Wilson, I. C. (1966) Activation of chronic withdrawn schizophrenics. Diseases of the Nervous System, 27, 615–617.Google Scholar
Kalinowsky, L. B., Lother, B. & Hippus, H. (1969) Pharmacological, Convulsive and other Somatic Treatments in Psychiatry. New York and London: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar
Kelly, D. H. W. & Sargant, W. (1965) Present treatment of schizophrenia: a controlled follow-up study. British Medical Journal, i, 147–150.Google Scholar
Kendell, R. E. (1981) The present status of electroconvulsive therapy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 265–283.Google Scholar
Kinross-Wright, J. (1955) Chlorpromazine treatment of mental disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 111, 907–912.Google Scholar
Lesse, S. (1959) Electroshock therapy and tranquillizing drugs. Journal of the American Medical Association, 170, 1791–1795.Google Scholar
May, P. R. A. (1968) Treatment of Schizophrenia. New York: Science House.Google Scholar
May, P. R. A. & Tuma, A. H. (1965) Treatment of schizophrenia: an experimental study of five treatment methods. British Journal of Psychiatry, 111, 503–510.Google Scholar
May, P. R. A. & Tuma, A. H., Yale, C., Potepan, P. & Dixon, W. (1976) Schizophrenia – a follow-up study of the results of treatment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 481–486.Google Scholar
Overall, J. E. (1981) Criteria for the selection of subjects for research in biological psychiatry. In Handbook of Biological Psychiatry, Part IV (eds van Praag, H. M., Lader, M. H., Rafaelson, O. J. & Sachar, E. J.). New York: Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar
Overall, J. E. & Gorham, D. R. (1962) The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Psychological Reports, 10, 799–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pippard, J & Ellam, L. (1981) Electroconvulsive Treatment in Britain, 1980. London: Gaskell.Google ScholarPubMed
Rahman, R. (1968) A review of treatment of 176 schizophrenic patients in the mental hospital, Pabna. British Journal of Psychiatry, 114, 775–777.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rhode, P. & Sargant, W. (1961) Treatment of schizophrenia in general hospitals. British Medical Journal, ii, 67–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, M., Kay, D. W. K. & Kiloh, L. G. (1966) The results of biological treatment in psychiatry and their bearing on the classification of mental diseases. In Biological Treatment of Mental Illness (ed. Rinkel, M.). New York: Page.Google Scholar
Salzman, C. (1980) The use of ECT in the treatment of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1032–1041.Google Scholar
Smith, K., Surphils, W., Gynther, M. & Shimkunas, A. (1967) ECT-chlorpromazine and chlorpromazine compared in the treatment of schizophrenia. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 144, 284–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for a Selected Group of Functional Disorders (3rd ed.) New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. J. (1981) ECT in schizophrenia: a review. In Electroconvulsive Therapy: An Appraisal (ed. Palmer, R. L.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. J. & Fleminger, J. J. (1980) ECT for schizophrenia. The Lancet i, 1380–1382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turek, I. S. (1973) Combined use of ECT and psychotropic drugs – antidepressants and antipsychotics. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 14, 495–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weinstein, M. R. & Fischer, A. (1971) Combined treatment with ECT and antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia. Diseases of the Nervous System, 32, 801–807.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.