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Patterns of electroconvulsive therapy use in Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

José Manuel Bertolín-Guillén ,
Salvador Peiró-Moreno  and
María Eugenia Hernández-de-Pablo
José Manuel Bertolín-Guillén*
Affiliation:
Hospital Psychiatric Unit, Service of Psychiatry, Consorcio Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, Avda, Tres Cruces 2, 46014Valencia, Spain
Salvador Peiró-Moreno
Affiliation:
Escuela Valenciana de Estudios para la Salud (EVES), Conselleria de Sanitat, Generalitat Valenciana, Valencia, Spain
María Eugenia Hernández-de-Pablo
Affiliation:
Hospital Psychiatric Unit, Service of Psychiatry, Consorcio Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, Avda, Tres Cruces 2, 46014Valencia, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 961 972 000; fax: +34 963 503 964. E-mail address: jose.m.bertolin@uv.es (J.M. Bertolín-Guillén).
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Abstract

Objective

– To describe the utilization, geographical variations and adaptation of ECT in the Spanish context.

Method

– A cross-sectional study, involving a questionnaire delivered to all hospitals with a Psychiatry Unit (PU) in Spain included in the National Hospitals Catalogue (N = 233). A descriptive analysis was made of the answers to the different questions, using an adequate denominator in each case: all PUs (n = 233), those units that prescribe and apply ECT (n = 174), or only those that apply the technology (n = 108).

Results

– All PUs completed the questionnaire. Fifty-nine units (25.3%) neither prescribed nor applied ECT, while 108 (46.4%) prescribed and applied the technology, and 66 PUs (28.3%) only prescribed ECT. Those units with training responsibilities for psychiatry residents or pregraduate students, and those with a larger number of beds, were more inclined to apply ECT. The estimated ECT applied in the preceding 12 months totaled 2435 with an annual rate per 10,000 inhabitants of 0.61, and a range per Spanish Autonomous Community of 0.28–16.59.

Conclusions

– We now know a reliable rate and characteristics of the use of ECT in Spain, and the attitudes and opinion of PUs Spanish psychiatrists about it. We found a very important variability in ECT application rates among Autonomous Communities.

Keywords

Electroconvulsive therapyTreatment availabilityAttitudeSpainQuestionnaire
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 21 , Issue 7 , October 2006 , pp. 463 - 470
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier SAS 2006

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