Electroconvulsive Therapy Practice in Thailand: A Nationwide Survey

Electroconvulsive Therapy Across Nations: A 2022 Survey of Practice

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to characterize worldwide electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) practice and compare practice across nations and global regions.

METHOD

Our anonymous survey was open on SurveyMonkey.com from January to June 2022. We sent invitations to providers identified using a Medicare provider database, an advanced PubMed search function, and professional group listservs. Participants were instructed to submit one survey per ECT site. Response frequencies were pooled by global region and compared using nonparametric methods.

RESULTS

Responses came from 126 sites, mostly in the United States (59%, n = 74), Europe (18%, n = 23), Canada (10%, n = 12), and South/East Asia (6%, n = 8). With some exceptions, sites were broadly consistent in practice as indicated by: a likely shift internationally from bitemporal to right unilateral electrode placement; predominant use of pulse widths <1 ms; preference for seizure threshold titration over age-based dosing methods; widespread availability of continuation/maintenance ECT (97%); and frequent use of quantitative outcome measures for depressive symptoms (88%) and cognitive adverse effects (80%).

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first, published survey that aimed to characterize worldwide ECT practice. With some exceptions, responses suggest a concordance in practice. However, responses were primarily from the Global North. To obtain a truly worldwide characterization of practice, future surveys should include more responses from the Global South.

Effect of Continuation-Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy on Hospitalization: A Retrospective Mirror-Image Study

Objective

To examine the effect of continuation-maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on psychiatric hospitalization in Thai patients.

Methods

This retrospective mirror-image study reviewed medical records of Thai patients who received continuation-maintenance ECT at Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok, between September 2013 and December 2022. The initiation of continuation-maintenance ECT served as the index event, establishing pre-initiation and post-initiation periods. The primary outcome measured the differences in admissions and admission days before and after continuation-maintenance ECT.

Results

Forty-seven patients were included in the study, with diagnoses of schizophrenia (38.3%), schizoaffective disorder (21.3%), and bipolar disorder (19.1%) being the most common. The mean (standard deviation; SD) age was 44.6 (12.2) years. The total duration that patients received continuation-maintenance ECT was 53 ± 38.2 months. Following the initiation of ECT, there was a significant reduction in the median (interquartile range) number of hospitalizations for all patients (2 [2] versus 1 [2], p < 0.001), as well as for the psychotic disorder group (2 [2] versus 1 [2.75], p = 0.006) and the mood disorder group (2 [2] versus 1 [2], p = 0.02). Moreover, there was a significant reduction in the median (interquartile range) length of admission days for all patients after the initiation of continuation-maintenance ECT (66 [69] versus 20 [53], p < 0.001). Specifically, the psychotic disorder group (64.5 [74] versus 15.5 [62], p = 0.02) and mood disorder group (74 [57] versus 20 [54], p = 0.008) demonstrated statistically significant decreases in admission days.

Conclusion

Continuation-maintenance ECT may be an effective treatment option for reducing hospitalizations and admission days in patients with various psychiatric diagnoses. However, the study also highlights the need to carefully consider the potential adverse effects of ECT in clinical decision-making.