A STUDY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF PATIENTS AND THEIR RELATIVES TOWARDS ELECTRO-CONVULSIVE THERAPY AT MENTAL HOSPITAL AT UJJAIN, M.P.

Abstract

Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) has been effective in various psychiatric disorders and is life-saving in some conditions. Despite its effectiveness and lack of serious side-effects, its use is restricted due to negative attitude of patients and their relatives towards ECT. Although electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective, safe and widely practiced treatment, it has also been one of most controversial and misunderstood procedures.

It is regarded as a treatment reserved for cases who do not respond to pharmacotherapy although a number of studies have shown it to be equally efficacious as that of pharmacotherapy. The attitude and knowledge of patients and their relatives has been studied in a number of  studies  to  know  the  reasons  behind  its  under-utilization. In  majority  of  these  studies,  the questionnaire  was  formulated  by  clinicians  taking  into account  the  regional  and  cultural  trends.  There  has  been lot  of  debate  on  the  fact  that  very  few  patients  and  their family  members  really  understood  the  facts  related  to ECT. Many studies have been done so far to know about the   attitude   and   knowledge   regarding   ECT. The objective of the study was to study the attitude of patients and their attendants towards ECT. Also, we studied their knowledge regarding ECT prior to the administration of ECT.