Effects of an Education Training Program on Attitudes to Electroconvulsive Therapy

Abstract

Widespread negative attitudes toward electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are present in the general public and among heath care professionals. However, there is evidence to suggest that clinical experience and knowledge of ECT positively improve attitudes toward this treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an ECT education training program on attitudes toward ECT. Participants were 73 student nurses (91.8% women) and 21 care aid students (81.0% women) undertaking a 6-week rotation in psychiatry at a large provincial psychiatric hospital in British Columbia, Canada. The ECT education training program consisted of a brief lecture, viewing of an educational videotape, familiarization with the ECT equipment, and observation of an ECT treatment. Participants completed a short questionnaire pretraining and posttraining program. Attitudes toward ECT did not substantially differ between the 2 groups. For the entire sample, only 8.5% reported that they were well informed about ECT before the training session. More favorable attitudes were reported upon completion of the ECT education program compared with attitudes reported before training. These findings suggest that attitudes toward ECT increase favorably when individuals are provided with training and experience.

Knowledge of and attitudes towards electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) among psychiatrists and family physicians in Saudi Arabia

“…This might be explained by psychiatrists utilize ECT more often and aware of its outcome than family physicians. Similar explanation was found on other studies in British Columbia and Australia [16, 18]. In this study, 83% of psychiatrists are willing to receive ECT when indicated, which shows higher attitude compared to Greek, Hungarian, and Romanian psychiatrists [9–11].…”

“…Media and poor medical school curricula have a negative impact on the attitude towards and knowledge of ECT [7, 16, 17]. The media, especially in movies, represent ECT in a wrong way, depicting it as torture that destroys memories.…”

“…Media was found to be the primary source of ECT knowledge for medical and nursing students [7, 16], which usually has negative image influence on the attitude [7, 16, 17]. Poor ECT education in medical schools’ curricula may cause defect in physicians’ attitude [4].…”

“…Poor ECT education in medical schools’ curricula may cause defect in physicians’ attitude [4]. However, clinical practice and acquiring more knowledge of ECT promote a positive attitude towards its usage [16, 18]. A study conducted with medical students in three countries (Iraq, Egypt and United Kingdom) found that the attitudes towards ECT were affected by socio-cultural factors and the modalities of education [1], while some studies revealed no socio-cultural effect on the attitude [7].…”

Knowledge and Attitude of Nursing Students toward Electroconvulsive Therapy

“…There are few studies from various developing countries which have assessed the knowledge and attitude of various medical professionals, including medical students, physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and student nurses. [ 5 ] Some of the existing studies suggest that psychiatric nurses and nursing students have significantly poorer knowledge and more negative attitude toward ECT compared to medical students. [ 6 ] Further, it has been observed that registered mental health nurses have more knowledge and positive attitude toward ECT than student nurses.…”