OBJECTIVE: The authors' goals were to determine the frequency and distribution of ECT for general hospital inpatients with recurrent @entity308 and to estimate the effects of prompt ECT on the length and cost of inpatient care. METHOD: Data from the 1993 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project were analyzed to determine the rate of ECT use for adult inpatients with a principal discharge diagnosis of @entity308 , recurrent. Associations between prompt initial use of ECT (in the first 5 hospital days) and length and cost of inpatient care were examined before and after control for sociodemographic, diagnostic, and hospital organizational characteristics. RESULTS: An estimated 9.4% of general hospital adult inpatients with a principal diagnosis of recurrent @entity308 received ECT in the survey year. A majority (59.2%) of these received their initial ECT session within the first 5 days after hospital admission. In univariate analyses, the likelihood of receiving ECT was greater for older @entity1 , whites, privately insured individuals, and @entity1 who lived in more affluent areas. @entity1 who received ECT tended to have relatively long and costly admissions. After control for several demographic, diagnostic, and hospital organizational characteristics, prompt ECT (as compared with delayed ECT or none) was associated with significantly shorter and less costly inpatient care. CONCLUSIONS: The longer stays and higher treatment costs associated with ECT may be a consequence of @entity1 selection. When @entity1 selection is taken into account, prompt administration of ECT is associated with shorter and less costly hospital stays. Nonetheless, economically disadvantaged @entity1 are relatively unlikely to receive this treatment.

Use of ECT for the inpatient treatment of recurrent XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient', 'Patients'] @entity308 :: ('MESH:D003866', 'Disease') :: ['major depression']
@entity308 :: (MESH:D003866,Disease) :: ['major depression']
