Electroconvulsive Therapy Use in Youth in the Province of Quebec.
OBJECTIVE
Electroconvulsive therapy's (ECT) safety and tolerability is well-established in the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders in adults, but has been less studied in youth. The aim of the present study was to describe the use of ECT in youth in Quebec City and obtain Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists' (CAP) perceptions in the province of Quebec.


METHODS
The authors reviewed charts of minors who received ECT treatment in the Quebec City metropolitan area between 1995 and 2014 (part 1). Data was also collected on CAP perceptions and experience of ECT use in youth by means of a survey (part 2).


RESULTS
Part 1 included four girls and two boys, aged between 15 and 17. The main diagnoses were: mood disorders and schizoaffective disorder. Patients received between four and twelve ECT sessions. Five patients responded to treatment, whereas one did not. Treatment and side effects are presented. For part 2, 53 CAP answered the survey. Forty-eight (91%) thought ECT is a good treatment option after failure of other therapeutic modalities and 12 (23%) had prescribed it. All respondents wished to receive additional training regarding ECT use in youth.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results are consistent with the notion that ECT use in youth with a refractory and complex disease is a safe and effective treatment, although rarely used. The majority of psychiatrists treating children and adolescents in Quebec favor ECT when all available therapeutic modalities have failed, but wished they had more training regarding its use.
Centre Hospitalier Régional de Rimouski, Department of Psychiatry, Rimouski, Quebec.
Annie
A
Loiseau
Centre Hospitalier Régional de Rimouski, Department of Psychiatry, Rimouski, Quebec.
Marie-Claude
MC
Harrisson
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, University of Sherbrooke, Department of Psychiatry, Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Vincent
V
Beaudry
Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Québec, Quebec City, Quebec.
Simon
S
Patry
Electroconvulsive therapy; Quebec; perceptions; survey; youth