The therapeutic effect of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients (OCD),a quasi experimental study

Abstract

OCD is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that affects different aspects of the patient's life and requires complete treatment. Considering that about 40% to 60% of cases of OCD are reported to be resistant to treatment, alternative therapies for It is suggested that one of these therapies is ECT, and given that few and scattered studies have been performed on the effect of ECT in the treatment of patients with OCD, and most of these studies are in the form of case reports or a series of case reports, Further studies are required with a enough number of patients, so we decided to investigate the effect of this treatment in patients with OCD in this study. Methods and Materials: In order to implement this plan, an estimated 12 patients with primary treatment-resistant OCD (according to similar studies and considering that a very small number of OCD patients are willing to receive ECT) are being treated. They were selected at Razi Educational and Medical Center in Tabriz and were severely obsessed with the help of Y-BOCS criteria and were treated with ECT 3 to 12 sessions 3 times a week. At the beginning of treatment and at the end of receiving ECT and two months after the last ECT, the severity of their obsession and the rate of recovery were measured using the mentioned criteria. Results: The mean score of patients' obsessive-compulsive disorder before starting treatment for patients with drug-resistant OCD by Yale-Brown test was 28.08 ± 50.2, which immediately after receiving ECT treatment, the mean score was decreased to 17.78 ± 3.78. Patients' involvement status was assessed two months after the end of treatment. The mean of this group was 18.08 ± 1.62 and all 12 patients (100%) showed a moderate degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The score of all patients after treatment had improved and their mean had decreased significantly from 28.08 to 17.17 (P value = 0.043). The comparison of the mean score of Yale Brown at the end of the treatment period with 2 months thereafter increased from 17.17 to 18.8 but this increase was not significant (P value = 0.125).