Short-Term And Long-Term Effects Of Electroconvulsive Therapy On Congnitive Function In Patients With Depression

Objective Depression is a kind of emotional disorder characterized by significant and persistent depression.Clinically,it is mainly characterized by depression,slow thinking,and decreased will activity.Depression has the characteristics of high morbidity,high morbidity,and high mortality.The treatment of depression includes:drug therapy,physical therapy,psychotherapy,and the like.However,drug treatment is slow,and about one-third of people with depression are not sensitive to medication.Electroconvulsive therapy is often used in this part of the clinic.This therapy has the advantages of rapid relief of depressive symptoms,safety,and fewer side effects.However,whether electroconvulsive has cognitive function damage in patients with depression,domestic and foreign scholars have not been conclusive,and there are few follow-up studies in China from 3 to 6 months after electroconvulsive treatment of depression patients,so this study will explore the short-term and long-term effects of(electroconvulsive therapy,ECT)on cognitive function in people with depression.Methods 61 hospital patients in Anhui Mental Health Center with depression were recruitde as the study group,and 30 adult were screened as the control group.ECT underwent the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status(RBANS)prior to ECT(T1)and at the end of the index(T2).42 patients returned for a 3-month follow-up(T3).All of them were tested by HAMD and HAMA.30 control subjects were assessde at 2 times approximately 4 weeks apart(C1 and C2).Results There was no significant difference in age,education years,gender,and marriage between the experimental group and the control group.The scores of RBNAS test and 5 factors in depression patients were significantly poorer than those in the control group(P<0.05).Immediate memory,visual breadth,speech function,attention,and time-lapse memory scores of patients with depression with anxiety were significantly lower than those with depression(P<0.05).After treatment of ECT,HAMD and HAMA scores were significantly decreased(P<0.05)..At T2,patients showed deficits in language and delayde memory with baseline.At T3,patients showed significant improvement in language,attention and delayde memory with baseline(P<0.05).Person correlation analysis show that the RBNAS five-factor and total scores were positively correlated with education level and marriage(except for language)(P<0.05),negatively correlated with age(except for language),but not with sex(P ?0.05).There was a negative correlation between RBNAS total score,attention and duration,and total score of HAMD(P<0.05).Breadth of vision was negatively correlated with disease duration.Conclusion Electroconvulsive therapy can significantly alleviate depressive symptoms in patients.Cognitive impairment in patients with depression with anxiety is more severe than depression in patients without anxiety.Electroconvulsive therapy may have cognitive function in patients with depression Short-term effects,but did not have long-term adverse effects on cognitive function in patients with depression,and actually improved in some aspects of cognition.Therefore,electroconvulsive therapy is a safe and effective treatment for depression and does not have long-term adverse effects on cognitive function in patients with depression.