Electroconvulsive therapy: Patient and family perspective

Abstract

Objective: To explore information from the last ten years on patients’ and families’ perception of electroconvulsive therapy in knowledge, satisfaction and attitudes. Material and methods: A narrative review is performed on electronic databases with keywords in MeSH terms and snowball search. Results: Eleven articles were included. Most patients and families had a basic understanding of this therapy. In general, they present a positive attitude, being better in those who had the experience, compared to those who did not, having the latter a predominantly ambivalent attitude. Additionally, it was evident that those who received information from their doctors had a better attitude than those who obtained it by other means. Satisfaction is higher than 50% for both family members and patients, however, for some anesthesia and treatment generated fear, and memory impairment was the most relevant adverse effect. In general, they consider therapy as a beneficial process for the patient and his or her pathology. Conclusions: Although the general perception is positive, there are multiple aspects to be improved; that would have a positive effect on the perception and could decrease the barriers to access the use of a therapy that has been shown to be effective. © 2020 Sociedad Mexicana de Neurologia y Psiquiatria. All rights reserved.