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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Pupillary Response as Assessment of Effective Seizure Induction by Electroconvulsive Therapy
Published on: April 11, 2019
Reasons for referral for electroconvulsive therapy: a comparison between adolescents and adults
Yuval Bloch1, Doli Sobol, Yechiel Levkovitz
1Child and adolescent out-patient clinic, Shalvata Mental Health Center, Hod Hasharon, Israel.
Objective:
In order to improve our understanding of the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in adolescent patients, we aimed to evaluate the reasons for referral for ECT in different age groups.
Method:
We compared the reasons for adolescent and adult referrals by a retrospective file review of 13 consecutive adolescents and 56 consecutive adults treated in our ECT unit during a 5-year period.
Results:
There was a significant association between age group and reason for referral. Non-response to pharmacotherapy was a significantly more common reason among adults. Adolescents were mainly referred due to catatonia and suicidal behaviour.
Conclusion:
Our results support the need to study reasons for referral to ECT, beyond non-response to pharmacotherapy, especially in adolescent patients.
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