Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz

Abstract

Clinical and neuropsychological evidence show that patients with
major depression often experience difficulties in their memory and
high cortical functions after receiving electroconvulsive therapy
(ECT). The aim of the study was therefore to examine side-effects of
electroconvulsive therapy on the memory and cognitive process of
women with major depression. The study employed a causalcomparative ex post facto design. The experimental group consisted of
30 women with major depressive disorder who were selected using
clinical interviews and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The control
group included 30 women with major depression who matched
members of the experimental group in age, education and marital
status. The experimental group completed a set of memory and
neuropsychiatric tests in several phases of ECT treatment, and they
were re-evaluated one year later in the follow-up phase. The control
group only received medication. The results from qualitative and
quantitative analyses of the memory and cognitive processes in the
two groups revealed that the experimental group significantly differed
from the control group in every phase of ECT and even 12 month after
the treatment (p<0.001)(p<0.001), and that memory and cognitive
processes of members of the experimental group significantly reduced
()<0.001). The study suggests that ECT decreases the patient’s
memory and high cortical functions, and that the results sustain even
after 12 months with no ECT.

Keywords

 
 
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