Medical problems of geriatric psychiatric patients and younger controls during electroconvulsive therapy.

Medical problems occurring during electroconvulsive therapy were studied in a population of 293 psychiatric inpatients who received 2,809 treatments. Geriatric patients (N = 199) developed significantly more medical problems that required medical treatment or temporary discontinuation of electroconvulsive therapy than did younger controls (N = 94). The most important of these were cardiovascular in nature. Despite their increased frequency, the majority of medical problems that occurred were reversible. Electroconvulsive therapy therefore appeared to be a safe procedure for elderly psychiatric patients.