(Sept. 28,2020) "Classics in ECT": Fink LTE on ECT Use In USA, 1988

Use of ECT in the United States.

Fink M.Am J Psychiatry. 1988 Jan;145(1):133-4.PMID: 3276227

The pdf is here.

This is a classic LTE from Dr. Max Fink, most definitely deserving of a careful read. His letter is responsive to an article in the American Journal in 1987 (Thompson JW, Blaine JD, Use of ECT in the United States in 1975 and 1980, Am J Psychiatry, 1987, May;144(5):557-62) which reported declining use of ECT. He counters that the authors' survey was a "lagging indicator" and subject to "sampling error" and that, in fact, ECT use, and interest in ECT, was increasing. He cites the growing number of scientific articles on ECT, the birth of the journal, Convulsive Therapy, and development of the ECT device industry.

To this day, we do not know exactly how much ECT is actually performed in the United States. As I have said before, we in the USA are at a great disadvantage compared to many European countries, where systems of socialized medicine allow for accurate data collection and dissemination.

While in 2020 we don't know if ECT use in the USA is declining, increasing, or remaining stable, thankfully Dr. Fink's closing words ring true: "the treatment [ECT] is an integral part of present psychiatric practice."

And as of September 16, 2020, there are 17,099 citations on "electroconvulsive" in PubMed.