Knowledge & Attitudes Towards Electroconvulsive Therapy Among Psychiatric Patients & their Spouses.

Abstract

Despite of the debates regarding the procedure and side effects of ECT it is used as an effective and safe treatment of many severe mental disorders (Janicak et al.1997, Weiner 1994, APA 1990) Studies on the clinical efficacy of ECT reported that the clinical efficacy of ECT is affected by many factors such as stigma, Knowledge and attitude towards the efficacy and safety of ECT procedures. (Malcolm, 1989, Johnstone, 1999. There are very few researches on knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of ECT among the patients and their care givers in India. Aim The present study was an attempt to estimate and compare the knowledge, attitude towards ECT among psychiatric patients and their spouses. Method This was a cross sectional study carried out at Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra , a tertiary centre catering services to major part of UP. One hundred and sixteen patients and their spouses admitted in the family ward of the institute were included in the study. Attitude, knowledge and experience questionnaires developed by Tang et .a l(2002) was used. Results The principal source of information for patients (55%) and relatives (75%) was the treating doctor. 21% had learnt from their own previous experience, while (37%) had learnt about ECT from others. The media was a less common source for both patients (13%) and relatives (17%) .Overall it is found that both the patients and spouses have reasonably adequate knowledge regarding ECT.