RESUMO
Electroconvulsive therapy [ECT] is one of the most effective treatment methods for recovery of the major depressed patients. The most important concerning in the case of ECT is temporary or permanent memory loss. Many patients who have no satisfactory recovery after receiving ECT, claim they have memory dysfunction. The aim of this research was to evaluat memory of the patients hospitalized in psychiatry department of Rafsanjan Moradi teaching hospital before and after receiving ECT in 2003.This analytical study was performed on 50 patients with major depression who received ECT at psychiatry department of Moradi hospital in six months. Memory status of each patient was evaluated by using Wechsler and Babkak memory tests before treatment, 24 hours after each ECT and one week after ending the treatment. The results presented in the form of diagrams and tables and to analyze the data wilcoxon sign rank test and paired t test were used for data analysis.After the first and the second ECTs, 18%-45% and 6%-15% of the patients showed short and long term memory dysfunction respectively. From the second ECT an increased short-term memory was observed, while long-term memory in the third and fourth ECT increased. From the fifth ECT there was no change in patients' memory. Relative frequency of long and short term memory dysfunction in the age group of 45 years old and above, married persons, low educated patients, farmers, house workers; and the patients with previous history of depression was the highest. [p<0.05].This study showed that after treating major depression by using ECT, the patients' memory was improved. However after the first and the second ECTs, some of the patients showed memory dysfunction. It can be concluded that ECT can be used as an effective way for treatment of depressed patients without risk of memory dysfunction