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Electroconvulsive Therapy in Denmark From 2017 to 2025: A Nationwide Register-Based Study
Mads H Esmann1,2, Anders Ørberg1,2, Ana L Carmo1,2
1Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Objective:
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-established treatment for severe manifestations of mental illness. This study examined trends in ECT use in Denmark from 2017 to 2025 using nationwide data from the Danish National Patient Register.
Methods:
The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results:
The use of voluntary ECT increased from 2017 to 2019, after which it plateaued. It was the number of patients treated that increased rather than the number of treatments per patient. The increase was not explained by population growth, ie, the number of patients treated voluntarily with ECT per 100,000 inhabitants increased from 32 in 2017 to ∼40 in 2019 to 2025. The development in the use of involuntary ECT parallelled that observed for voluntary ECT. The increases in use of voluntary and involuntary ECT over time were both predominantly due to the treatment being used more often for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. At the national level, bilateral electrode placement remained the preferred option across the observation period, while substantial interhospital differences were noted.
Conclusions:
The use of ECT in Denmark has increased over the past decade, predominantly due to the more common use of ECT for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Given the beneficial efficacy to side-effect ratio of ECT with unilateral electrode placement, a shift towards more use of this approach may be called for in cases where rapid response is not urgently needed.
