 |
| Research article summary (published 29 Sep 2002): |
A survey of the views of geriatric psychiatrists in the United Kingdom on the use of electroconvulsive therapy to treat physically ill people.
Full Abstract
BACKGROUND:
One of the main concerns about ECT is its use for people with concurrent medical illnesses. Geriatric psychiatrists are more often likely to encounter this situation in working with older age groups. Drawing on the collective experience of all UK geriatric psychiatrists may allow a better understanding of the use of ECT for people with major medical illness.
METHODS:
A postal questionnaire was used to seek the views of all consultant geriatric psychiatrists in the UK on the use of ECT in the presence of major illness. The questionnaire was developed from previous literature on the subject, a previous pilot study, published guidelines and clinical experience of the authors.
RESULTS:
Geriatric psychiatrists most often favour bilateral ECT. They are likely to carry out physical examination, chest X-ray, ECG, haemoglobin estimation, urea and electrolytes, thyroid and liver function tests in medically ill people before considering ECT. They are more likely to change their ECT assessment procedures when dealing with medical illness, rather than any other aspect of treatment, and are unlikely to change any aspect of ECT treatment in someone of advanced age.
CONCLUSIONS:
Geriatric psychiatrists see their roles in relation to ECT as primarily that of assessment, and rely on others to advise on anaesthetic drug use, treatment technique, concurrent drug treatment and post-ECT management. It is important that the ECT consultant and ECT anaesthetist are aware of their role and prepared to offer appropriate advice. The role of the ECT consultant in relation to the responsible medical officer requires clarification.Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills
Author information
Author/s: Benbow, S M (SM); Shah, A (A);
Affiliation: Wolverhampton Health Care NHS Trust, Wolverhampton, UK. dr.benbow@whc-tr.nhs.uk
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article
Journal: International journal of geriatric psychiatry (Int J Geriatr Psychiatry), published in England. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-Oct; vol 17 (issue 10) : pp 956-61
Dates: Created 2002/09/26; Completed 2002/11/26; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12325057, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
|
|
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.