Changes in Inpatient Electroconvulsive Therapy Utilization Between 2019 and 2020

Abstract

Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an essential procedure for a range of psychiatric conditions. Multiple single-center studies have documented reduction in ECT administration in 2020 because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but there have been little nationally representative data from the United States. The aim of this study was to examine the demographics of patients receiving ECT in 2019 and 2020 and to characterize temporal and regional variations in ECT utilization. Methods:The 2019 and 2020 National Inpatient Sample, an administrative database of inpatient hospitalizations in the United States, was queried for hospitalizations involving the delivery of ECT based on procedural codes. Overall number of ECT procedures was calculated based on the overall number of ECT procedural claims.

Editor's Roundup for Issue 3 of 2023

“…This issue also features 2 papers from China regarding ECT in adolescents, which report that self-injurious behavior is a predictor of ECT use and that prescription of ECT is superior to psychotropics alone in lowering suicidal ideation in adolescents 2,3 . Luccarelli et al 4 reconfirm the decline in ECT use in US hospitals during early COVID-19 pandemic, whereas a global survey by Sarma et al 5 shows that suicide deaths were related to loss of access to ECT during the pandemic. Finally, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a rare and potentially dangerous complication of ECT, and because of its rarity, ECT providers may not understand whether it is safe to reintroduce ECT.…”