ReviewEpidemiology and psychiatric sciences2022
A critique of narrative reviews of the evidence-base for ECT in depression.
Review in Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Ultrabrief pulse electroconvulsive therapy for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Continuation electroconvulsive therapy combined with pharmacotherapy for depression relapse prevention: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Electroconvulsive therapy and autobiographical memory.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2026Article
- The use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a potential marker of the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2025Review
- A Survey of 1144 ECT Recipients, Family Members and Friends: Does ECT Work?International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Associating sensory cues with incoming seizures: developing an animal model of auras.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A study of ECT on 278 children and adolescents; methodological, conceptual, and ethical concerns.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
- A response to yet another defence of ECT in the absence of robust efficacy and safety evidence.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
There has been recent debate regarding the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depression. This has been based on narrative reviews that contradict existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses. In this special article, we highlight the mistakes that occur when interpreting evidence using narrative reviews, as opposed to conventional systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.