Socio demographic, clinical and side effect profile of electroconvulsive therapy use among psychiatric inpatients: a cross sectional study from South East Asia - Kashmir

Background: Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a neuromodulative technique, which is effective but underutilized for treatment of psychiatric disorders. The aim of the study was to investigate s ocio demographic, clinical and side effect profile of electroconvulsive therapy use among psychiatric inpatients. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed for a period of 1 year in postgraduate department of psychiatry (Institute of mental health and neurosciences Kashmir - center of excellence). Patients of pharmacotherapy resistant psychiatric disorders attending the hospital during this period were taken in study. The data was recorded in a specially designed proforma which documented the socio-demographic variables including age, sex, residence, occupation, socioeconomic status was recorded. Chi-square, Fisher exact, and t tests were used to note the statistically significant association . Results: The mean age of the study sample was 39.6 (±11.76) years. Maximum number of patients were in the age group 41-50 years i.e. 16 (28.6%), followed by 31-40 years i.e. 15 (26.8%). The mean number of ECT’s received was 8.22 (±2.073). About 29 (51.8%) patients reported body aches, 24 (42.9%) patients reported forgetfulness, 9 (16%) patients reported headache and only 1 (2%) patient reported agitation. Conclusion: The results indicate that electroconvulsive therapy is used in all psychiatric disorder with fewer side effects in pharmacotherapy resistant psychiatric disorders.