Electroconvulsive therapy roughly halves the 12-month risk of suicide death in patients admitted to hospital with severe depression, a large cohort study shows.

The findings reinforce the importance of the intervention, Canadian researchers say, and confirm that it remains “a medically safe procedure with a minimal increased risk of serious medical events”.

The University of Ontario-led team analysed data from 67,000 adults (mean age 45) admitted to a psychiatric bed for more than three days, of whom nearly 5000 underwent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

A total of 450 deaths by suicide were recorded within 12 months of discharge, with a rate of 5.8 deaths per 1000 person-years in ECT-exposed patients versus 7.3 per 1000 person-years among those without ECT exposure.