Efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant schizophrenia: a prospective open trial

Abstract

There is a lack of controlled trials examining the effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) combined with olanzapine or risperidone in treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). The authors conducted a prospective, open, controlled trial of ECT in TRS in a long-term psychiatric rehabilitation unit in Hong Kong. Thirty patients with TRS from an inpatient psychiatric rehabilitation unit participated in this study. All subjects were resistant to a host of antipsychotic medications given singly or in different combinations. In addition, they were also resistant to or they refused clozapine treatment. Fifteen patients completed a course of ECT consisting of 8–20 sessions. Fifteen patients who refused ECT formed the control Subjects were assessed at baseline, 1 week, 1 month, and 2 months after their last ECT. Assessment instruments included the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), Global Assessment Scale (GAS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI), CGI Severity of Illness [CGI(SOI)], CGI Global Improvement [CGI(GI)], Nurses' Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE-30), and occupational therapists' rating of the subjects' functioning with respect to work (OT-W), social (OT-S), and leisure (OT-L) activities. In comparison with the control group, the ECT group showed statistically significant improvement only in the GAS and CGI at each posttreatment evaluation. There was a trend for ECT to reduce positive and negative symptoms, although the rate of improvement did not reach statistically significant levels. ECT augmentation of risperidone and olanzapine is of marginal efficacy compared to reports of the greater augmentation of these antipsychotics with other agents.