Magnetic seizure therapy plus standard care compared to electroconvulsive therapy plus standard care for people with schizophrenia

Patient or population: people with acute schizophrenia
Setting: inpatient
Intervention: magnetic seizure therapy + standard care
Comparison: electroconvulsive therapy + standard care

Global state: clinically important change 
assessed by: number of participants with a clinical response
Study duration: 4 weeks

RR 1.12
(0.73 to 1.70)

79
(1 RCT)

⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very low ^{1 2}

A clinical response was defined as a ≥ 25% reduction from baseline to the endpoint of the PANSS total score.

Cognitive functioning: clinically important change ‐ not measured

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‐

‐

Adverse effects: clinically important adverse effects
assessed by: number of participants with a delayed memory deficit
Study duration: 4 weeks

RR 0.63
(0.41 to 0.96)

79
(1 RCT)

⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very low ^{1 3}

A delayed memory deficit was defined as a ≥ 10% decrease from baseline to the endpoint of the RBANS delayed memory score.

Quality of life: clinically important change ‐ not measured

‐

‐

‐

Social functioning: clinically important change ‐ not measured

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‐

‐

Leaving the study early: any reason
assessed by: number of dropouts for any reason

Study duration: 4 weeks

RR 2.51
(0.73 to 8.59)

79
(1 RCT)

⊕⊝⊝⊝
Very low ^{1 2}

*The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI).
CI: confidence interval; OR: odds ratio; PANSS: the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; RBANS: the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status; RR: risk ratio

GRADE Working Group grades of evidence
High certainty: we are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect.
Moderate certainty: we are moderately confident in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different.
Low certainty: our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: the true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect.
Very low certainty: we have very little confidence in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect.