Clinical psychiatry Health care workers attitudes toward electroconvulsive therapy

Objective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure based on electrical currents stimulating brain tissue and creates generalized convulsions. This biological treatment has been used as an effective method for the treatment of mental disorders in psychiatry since 1938. Much of the stigma attached to ECT is based on early treatments in which high doses of electricity were administered without anesthesia, leading to memory loss, bone fractures and other serious side effects. Although unmodified ECT had been used to apply for many years in the world, recently ıt has been used to apply completely for all inpatients since 2005, at Bakirkoy Research and Traning Hospital, which has got the biggest inpatient for psychiatric services of Turkey.

Method: Our study investigated convictions of Health care workers towards unmodified and modified ECT application and adverse effects. 54 psychiatric specialist, 82 psychiatric assistants and 64 psychiatric nurses were involved in this study.

Results: The compartment of efficiency of ECT; The doctors (specialist and assistants) believe that both techniques are effective equally. But the nurses believe that unmodified ECT is more effective. The compartment of adverse effects of ECT; Each of the three groups was considered that the adverse effects of modified ECT are too low compared to modified ECT Healthcare providers have a common opinion that the modified ECT is more secure method for ECT implementing and more comfortable.

Conclusions: ECT is much safer today and is given to people while they’re under general anesthesia. Although ECT still causes some side effects, it now uses electrical currents given in a controlled setting to get the most benefit with the fewest possible risks.