How can we improve patient satisfaction as a consumer of public health services? The case of psychiatric patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy

Abstract

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) involves the induction of seizures for therapeutic purposes in cases of serious psychiatric disorders. Since the early twentieth century, ECT was one of the most important therapeutic alternatives to treat patients suffering from severe psychiatric disorders, and ECT maintained its therapeutic role despite the emergence of psychoactive drugs by mid-century. However, in the 1970's it fell into disuse due to the emergence of a psychiatric paradigm shift that considered it repressive and unsafe. The introduction of anesthesia as a fundamental part of the ECT has significantly improved the safety of the therapy, which, today, continues to be an effective therapy for its precise indications (Lopez Villaescusa et al., 2011; Rodriguez-Jimenez, 2015).