Assessment of attitudes of patients with psychiatric disorders regarding electroconvulsive therapy as a treatment option: Attitudes of psychiatric patients towards ECT

Objective: To assess the attitudes of psychiatric patients towards electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a treatment modality.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st January, 2017 to 15th April, 2018 in Department of Psychiatry, MTI, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. It comprised of total 154 patients, having previous experience with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) who were selected through a non-probability consecutive sampling. Their attitude was assessed by their responses to 15 questions on a Likert Scale, each question scoring 01-05 with a summed up cut-off score of 45 points. Score over 45 points is considered positive and below 45 as negative while those scoring exactly 45 points were considered as having Ambivalent attitude towards ECT.

Results: Of all, 73% patients revealed positive and 27% negative attitude towards ECT. Mean age of the sample was 35 years. Out of all patients, 67.5% were males & 32.5% females, 73% were married & 27% unmarried, 47% were illiterate & 53% variably educated, 43% were employed while 57% were unemployed.

Conclusion: A significant majority of the patients accepted ECT as an effective treatment modality. However, to make the procedure more acceptable, it may be made more effective and safe to the expectations of the patients and medical professionals for better outcomes.