The Prediction of Response to Electroconvulsive Therapy
JOE MENDELS M.B., CH.B., M.D.1
1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104
A computer-derived method of selecting and weighting clinical factors to predict the response of depressed patients to ECT was evaluated retrospectively for a group of 105 hospitalized patients. Use of the method prospectively would have provided an 86 percent accuracy in prognosis. The results are compared with reports of correlations between specific depressive symptoms and response to imipramine and amitriptyline.
