efficacy of donepezil in improving cognitive impairment induced by electroconvulsive therapy in patients with mood disorders: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: electroconvulsive therapy (ect) is an effective strategy in the treatment of mood disorders; however, it is associated with some cognitive complications. objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of donepezil as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor in improving cognitive impairment induced by ect in mood disorder patients. methods: ninety-six mood disorder patients were randomly assigned to the donepezil (5mg/day) or placebo groups. the persian versions of the mini-mental status examination (mmse) and addenbrooke’s cognitive examination revised (ace-r) were used to evaluate cognitive performance before the first ect session, after the fourth ect session, and four weeks after the last ect session. results: the mean scores of mmse and ace-r revealed significant improvement in the donepezil group over time (p < 0.001). all ace-r subscales increased significantly following the intervention implementation in the donepezil group (p < 0.001). furthermore, the donepezil group reported no remarkable complications and completed the study. conclusions: donepezil co-administration with ect may improve the ect-induced cognitive disturbances.