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Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective somatic treatment, but it may be limited by cognitive adverse effects. The existing cognitive screening instruments often lack specificity to ECT-associated cognitive deficits. The ElectroConvulsive Therapy Cognitive Assessment was developed and validated in a clinical setting, but the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of ElectroConvulsive Therapy Cognitive Assessment (ECCA-C) have not been studied in a large clinical sample., Methods: The ECCA-C and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were administered to patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) undergoing ECT at 3 time points: pretreatment (baseline), before the fifth treatment, and 1 week posttreatment. The instruments were also administered to a sample of healthy subjects., Results: Sixty-five patients with MDD and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited in this study. Overall, the patient group had statistically significantly lower MoCA and ECCA-C scores than the control group (both P values <0.001). The Cronbach α of the ECCA-C was 0.88 at baseline. Statistically significant decreases over time were observed in ECCA-C: pre-ECT (23.9 ± 4.0) > mid-ECT (21.3 ± 3.4) > post-ECT (18.7 ± 4.8) (all P values <0.001), whereas no statistically significant changes in MoCA scores were found at these 3 time points ( F = 1.86, P = 0.165). A cutoff score of 26.5 on the ECCA-C was found to best differentiate between MDD patients and healthy controls., Conclusions: The ECCA-C showed satisfactory psychometric properties and may be a more sensitive instrument than the MoCA to assess cognitive impairment associated with ECT., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. This study was supported by the Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University (YJ2021-05)., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This article summarizes the publications in the Chinese scientific literature related to the technical parameters and mechanism of action associated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)., Methods: The researchers conducted a comprehensive search of the Chinese language literature identified from searches of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and the Medline databases (1979-2012)., Results: More than 900 journal papers on ECT have been published in the Chinese language between 1979 and 2012. Most studies found that electrode placement, anesthesia, and muscle relaxants are important clinical factors associated with both clinical efficacy and adverse effects. Chinese researchers have reported new leads regarding the possible mechanism of ECT., Conclusion: The Chinese medical literature provides an important database that will help advance ECT research in both China and the international community.