Akambadiyar Rajendran, Bhat Pookala Shivaram, Prakash Jyoti
Department of Psychiatry, Assam Rifles Composite Hospital, Dimapur, Nagaland, India.
Department of Psychiatry, AFMC, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Ind Psychiatry J. 2018 Jul-Dec;27(2):201-205. doi: 10.4103/ipj.ipj_42_18.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is said to have few adverse effects and among them, cognitive impairment is the most significant side effect limiting its use. However, recent studies have suggested it to be due to illness rather than due to ECT, hence a need to study the memory changes following ECT.
This study aimed to assess the memory changes following ECT and subsequent recovery in the short period of 4 weeks.
Fifty consecutive first-episode cases of depression requiring ECT and scoring at least 27 on initial Mini-Mental State Examination were studied using Becks Depression Inventory and Wechsler Memory Scale III-Indian adaptation at baseline, after six ECTs, and 4 weeks after last ECT. Findings were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods.
Memory improved significantly after a course of six ECTs and further 4 weeks after the last ECT. Depression scores had dramatically reduced after a course of six ECTs. Significant correlation was found between baseline depression scores and baseline general (delayed) memory scores.
The memory changes seen after ECT were likely to be mediated by changes in depression. Probably, ECT had no deleterious effects on memory or its negative effects were more than balanced by the changes due to improvement of depression.
据说电休克疗法（ECT）副作用较少，其中认知障碍是限制其使用的最显著副作用。然而，最近的研究表明这是由疾病而非电休克疗法导致的，因此有必要研究电休克疗法后的记忆变化。
本研究旨在评估电休克疗法后4周短期内的记忆变化及随后的恢复情况。
对50例连续的首次发作抑郁症且初始简易精神状态检查表得分至少为27分、需要接受电休克治疗的患者，在基线时、6次电休克治疗后以及最后一次电休克治疗4周后，使用贝克抑郁量表和韦氏记忆量表III（印度版）进行研究。采用适当的统计方法对结果进行分析。
经过6次电休克治疗后记忆显著改善，在最后一次电休克治疗4周后进一步改善。经过6次电休克治疗后抑郁评分显著降低。发现基线抑郁评分与基线总体（延迟）记忆评分之间存在显著相关性。
电休克疗法后出现的记忆变化可能是由抑郁的变化介导的。电休克疗法可能对记忆没有有害影响，或者其负面影响被抑郁改善带来的变化所抵消。
