The lengths of stay of patients receiving ECT and medication or medication alone on an acute elderly admission ward were retrospectively compared. The lengths of stay for those who received ECT were significantly longer than for those not receiving ECT. If the ECT was given within 4 weeks of admission, the length of stay was similar to those receiving medication alone. In addition to symptom complexes, the decision to use ECT should take into account the length of the illness. Early ECT may reduce lengths of stay and decrease the likelihood of chronicity.
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Ball et al. (1995) studied this question.
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