Implementing ECT for Patients Experiencing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: A Systematic Review.

 Out on PubMed, from authors in Canada, in JECT, is this review:


Implementing Electroconvulsive Therapy for Patients Experiencing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Nidumolu A, Kapustin D, Benzouak T, Rao S, Hassan S, Amanullah S.J ECT. 2025 Mar 17. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000001125. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40094391
The abstract is copied below:

Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has long been used to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). However, there are no guidelines for the use of ECT in this population. Contributing to efforts addressing this gap in the literature, this qualitative systematic review examines areas of consensus and disagreement in currently published protocols for the use of ECT in BPSD.

Methods: MEDLINE and PsychInfo were searched for primary and secondary literature meeting the aim of this review. All articles were screened, full-text reviewed, and extracted in duplicate. A framework synthesis methodology was used to identify key steps in conducting ECT for BPSD.

Results: Thirty-two studies were included in this systematic review. Although these studies converged on similar indications for using ECT in BPSD, there was significant heterogeneity in the stimulus characteristics used and approaches to maintenance treatment.

Conclusions: ECT holds promise in the treatment of BPSD. Although further research is needed to establish optimal treatment parameters, this review can be used by clinicians to identify potential approaches to using ECT.


The review is here.
And from the text:




This is a worthwhile review that gets into the details of what ECT protocols have been tried for the treatment of behavioral symptoms in dementia.
A couple of points: it seems silly to worry about transient memory issues in profoundly demented people; if the cognitive issues referred to are confusion and delirium, that is a different matter, but it should be specified. This is an extremely difficult population to study experimentally, but the called-for consensus statement could be helpful. As we have noted before, we await the results of the multi-center study headed by Brent Forester and Georgios
Petrides.

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