title: Electroconvulsive Therapy - What Do Patients Think Of Their Treatment?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) monitors the administration of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Northern Ireland (NI). As part of their inspection methodology RQIA wished to include feedback from ECT patients. The aim of this report is to summarise the opinions of ECT patients over a 1-year period and to compare their feedback about treatment with the standards of best practice, as defined by the Electroconvulsive Therapy Accreditation Service (ECTAS).
  
  
  METHODS
  RQIA was granted permission to use the ECTAS patient questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to all the ECT clinics in NI and staff were requested to give them to patients who had received a course of ECT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 42 individuals returned questionnaires, 24 females (57.1%) and 18 (42.9%) males. The response rate was 26%. Almost half of respondents were detained under the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (n=19, 45.2%), with one third receiving ECT as a day patient (n=14, 33.3%). Respondents reported having detailed information about ECT, with ECTAS standards 4.2 and 4.3 being affirmed in over 80% of cases. Eighty percent of respondents (n=34) believed they benefited from ECT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results are mainly favourable towards ECT. The majority felt they benefited from treatment.
authors.affiliation: The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, 9th Floor, Riverside Tower, 5 Lanyon Place, Belfast, BT1 3BT.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maguire
authors.affiliation: The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, 9th Floor, Riverside Tower, 5 Lanyon Place, Belfast, BT1 3BT.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rea
authors.affiliation: The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, 9th Floor, Riverside Tower, 5 Lanyon Place, Belfast, BT1 3BT.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Convery
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D058996:Quality Improvement; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Electroconvulsive Therapy; Northern Ireland; Qualitative; Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority; Semi-Structured Interview; User Experience/User Satisfaction