An audit of clinical and sociodemographic profile of electroconvulsive therapy in Kashmir

Abstract

Background: Patterns of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) use and the clinical and sociodemographic profile have recently been extensively surveyed in developed world. However, data from Indian Sub-continent is limited although ECT is widely used in this part of world. Objective: This study aimed to study the clinical and sociodemographic profile of ECT patients in Kashmir (India). Methods: Case sheets of patients attending the lone ECT facility for last 3 years were analyzed retrospectively. Results: There were 90 patients who received 691 ECT treatments in three years. Majority 64.5% (58) were males and were from rural background 58.8% (53). The average number of treatments per patient was 7.7. Major depression was seen 27.8% (25). Schizophrenia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder was seen in 14.5% (13) each. Overall affective disorders formed the major group. Overall 44 of 63 (69.84%) showed an improvement. Conclusions: This was the first such study from this part of Indian sub-continent. The provision of ECT in only one centre is clearly insufficient for such a large study population. With the overall limited availability of the facility the protocol of the ECT services here are in line with the global trend. Affective disorders formed the main chunk in contrast to rest of India and OCD had a significant representation which is an area of research.