Table 1.

Patient and treatment characteristics (n = 91)

	n (%); or mean ± SDd; or median; IQRe
Patient characteristics
Male gender	34 (37.4)
Age, in years	59.1 ± 15.0
Body mass index, in kg/m2	24.7; 22.7–27.3
CIRS scorea	22.0 ± 3.8
Diagnostic category, according to axis 1 of DSM-IV-Rc:
Depressive disorder without psychotic features	50 (54.9)
Depressive disorder with psychotic features	24 (26.4)
Bipolar disorder, depressive episode	14 (15.4)
Other disordersb	3 (3.3)
Documented or clinically suspected personality disorder present, according to axis 2 of DSM-IV-R	27 (29.7)
MADRSf score at baseline (n = 88)	36.2 ± 8.6
MMSEg score at baseline (n = 86)	28; 25–29
Treatment characteristics
Had previous course(s) of ECT	28 (30.8)
Days between last ECT and index ECT (n = 28)	646; 202–1,393
Use of seizure threshold influencing concomitant pharmacotherapy:
Benzodiazepines	54 (59.3)
Antiepileptics	7 (7.7)
Antidepressants	52 (57.1)
Antipsychotics	58 (63.7)
Electrode placement is bifrontotemporal at first titration session	28 (30.8)
Initial seizure threshold, in millicoulombs	60.9 ± 42.3
Dynamic impedance at first titration session, in Ω	275.5 ± 59.5
Etomidate dose at first titration session, in mg	20; 18–22
Succinylcholine dose at first titration session, in mg	80; 75–100
Total number of ECT sessionsh (n = 86)	17.9 ± 7.4
Switch from right unilateral to bifrontotemporal electrode placement during coursei (n = 63)	33 (52.4)

^aCumulative Illness Rating Scale

^bSchizophrenia (n = 2) and malignant neuroleptic syndrome (n = 1)

^cDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

^dStandard deviation

^eInterquartile range

^f Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale

^gMini-Mental State Examination

^hDropouts of treatment (suicide n = 1; terminal illness n = 1; wanted to stop n = 3) excluded from analysis

ⁱOnly patients started with right unilateral electrode placement were analyzed