Risk factors for electroconvulsive therapy-induced fever: a retrospective case-control study

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can induce fever, impacting patient care.
• Limited data exists on the prevalence and risk factors of ECT-induced fever in major mental disorders (MMD).

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of ECT-induced fever in MMD patients.
• To identify risk factors associated with ECT-induced fever.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case-control study of 113 cases and 226 controls.
• Data collected from patients undergoing ECT for MMD between January and December 2021.
• Axillary temperature ≥37.5°C within 24 hours post-ECT defined fever.

Main Results:

• Prevalence of ECT-induced fever was 6.8% in MMD patients.
• Paliperidone was a significant risk factor (OR=2.5), while quetiapine showed a protective effect (OR=0.4).
• Etomidate showed no significant association with ECT-induced fever.

Conclusions:

• ECT-induced fever has a low prevalence in MMD patients.
• Paliperidone is a risk factor; quetiapine is protective against ECT-induced fever.
• Etomidate is not significantly associated with ECT-induced fever.