Electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depression: the impact on length of stay.

It has been reported that one advantage to administering electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the treatment of depression is that it results in shorter hospitalizations than alternative treatments. The generality of this finding was assessed in the present study, which comprised a retrospective review of 192 admissions for depression. It was found that the prompt initial decision to administer ECT did not reduce the overall length of hospital stays. In fact, patients who were discharged after an initial medication trial actually had shorter admissions than patients treated promptly with ECT. Nevertheless, one subgroup of patients--those who were started on medications, but who were later switched to ECT--had very long admissions. Whether the prompt initiation of ECT will reduce the average length of stay at any individual institution may depend on the numbers of patients who fall into this latter category. This number, in turn, appears to vary widely across institutions.