Background: The use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in treatment of psychiatric disorders is associated with adverse cognitive effects. There is a need to develop a short assessment tool of cognitive functions during the course of ECT.
Objective: This study aimed at developing and validating a short, sensitive battery to assess cognitive deficits associated with ECT in India.
Methods: Battery for ECT Related Cognitive Deficits (B4ECT-ReCoDe), a brief cognitive battery (20-30 min) to assess verbal, visual, working and autobiographic memory, sustained attention, psychomotor speed and subjective memory impairment, was administered to 30 in-patients receiving bilateral ECT, one day after the 1st, 3rd and 6th ECT. Data was analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation.
Results: Significant deficits were found in verbal, visual and autobiographic memory, psychomotor speed. Subjective experience of memory loss correlated positively with verbal memory impairment.
Conclusions: B4ECT-ReCoDe, a brief, sensitive measure of cognitive impairments associated with ECT can be used in routine clinical practice.
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