Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32453190›Full record

ArticleThe journal of ECT2020

The Effect of Pulse Width on Subjective Memory Impairment and Remission Rate 6 Months After Electroconvulsive Therapy.

Elsa Tornhamre, Carl Johan Ekman, Åsa Hammar, Mikael Landen, Johan Lundberg, Pia Nordanskog, Axel Nordenskjöld

Open access · hybridAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in The journal of ECT, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 43% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Elsa TornhamreFrom the University Health Care Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro.
Carl Johan EkmanDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
Åsa Hammar
Mikael Landen
Johan LundbergDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
Pia Nordanskog
Axel NordenskjöldFrom the University Health Care Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro.
Örebro University · SEKarolinska Institutet · SEUniversity of Bergen · NOUniversity of Gothenburg · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe aim of this study was to compare the 0.5-millisecond pulse width with broader brief width stimulus and ultrabrief pulse width stimulus in respect to rates of subjective memory impairment and remission 6 months after completion of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

methodsThis study used data from the Swedish National Quality Register for ECT. Inclusion criteria were bipolar or unipolar depression with or without psychosis, ECT with unilateral electrode placement, and data on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale-Self-Assessment and the memory item of the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS-M) before and 6 months after ECT. The primary outcomes were the distributions of patients with a maximum of 10 on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale-Self-Assessment (remission) and a minimum of 2-step worsening in CPRS-M score according to the ECT pulse widths of <0.5, 0.5, and >0.5 millisecond.

resultThis study included 312 patients. The distributions of patients with remission or a minimum of 2-step worsening on the CPRS-M 6 months after completion of ECT showed no significant differences between the 3 pulse width groups. Older age was associated with a significantly higher rate of remission 6 months after ECT.

conclusionsIn this cohort of patients, no support was found for the previous research finding of lower rates of subjective memory disturbances 6 months after ultrabrief pulse width ECT in comparison with brief pulse width ECT. Older age was associated with higher remission rate 6 months after ECT. Large randomized studies are required to exclude the possibility of long-term differential effects between pulse widths.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedDepressionElectroconvulsive TherapyFemaleHumansMaleMemory DisordersMiddle AgedPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesRegistriesSweden

Identifiers

PMID32453190
PMCPMC7676462
OpenAlexW3029653928

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.