Patients' perspectives on electroconvulsive therapy: systematic review

Objective To ascertain patients' views on the benefits of and possible memory loss from electroconvulsive therapy. Design Descriptive systematic review. Data sources Psychinfo, Medline, Web of Science, and Social Science Citation Index databases, and bibliographies. Study selection Articles with patients' views after treatment with electroconvulsive therapy. Data extraction 26 studies carried out by clinicians and nine reports of work undertaken by patients or with the collaboration of patients were, identified; 16 studies investigated the perceived benefit of electroconvulsive therapy and seven met criteria for investigating memory loss. Data synthesis The studies showed heterogeneity. The methods used were associated with levels of perceived benefit. At least one third of patients reported persistent memory loss. Conclusions The current statement for patients from the Royal College of Psychiatrists that over 80% of patients are satisfied with electroconvulsive therapy and that memory loss is not clinically important is unfounded.