ECT Attitudes Among Polish Students
Out on PubMed, from the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, is this survey study:
Psychiatr Pol. 2020 Jun 30;54(3):603-612. doi: 10.12740/PP/109157. Epub 2020 Jun 30.PMID: 33038890
The abstract is copied below:
Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the general knowledge and attitudes towards ECT among Polish students, including students of medical faculties. Furthermore, the influence of pop-culture on society's opinion about ECT was investigated.
Methods: For this purpose, 1,370 students have been examined with the usage of the author's questionnaire, which consisted of questions about socio-demographic data, detailed questions about ECT as well as questions about their opinion about influence of pop-culture on the reception of this procedure. The respondents were divided into four subgroups depending on the faculty of their studies: human sciences, technical, medical and health sciences.
Results: The results show that the knowledge about ECT among Polish students is on avery low level, as in many cases the therapy is considered as painful, ineffective or even illegal.
Conclusions: The influence of the media, especially film industry, on creating a negative opinion on the subject of ECT is significant. Furthermore, many respondents obtain their knowledge about this procedure from television or from the Internet, where the information is often incorrect.
Keywords: Polish students; electroconvulsive therapy; stigmatization.
The pdf is here.
And from the text:
socioeconomic sciences believe that the patient does not undergo general anesthesia
during the procedure, which might be the cause of demonizing ECT. Furthermore, the
picture of ECT as a long gone method of treatment contributes to the relatively high
percentage of incorrect answers in the question regarding its legal status [17].
Moreover, the study indicates that Polish students, including medical students, are unaware
that ECT is a safe and effective method of treatment during pregnancy [18]. Another
very concerning issue is the correlation between watching movies regarding ECT and
the level of knowledge about this procedure because majority of respondents in this
study indicated them as a primary source of information about the topic. Also many
other studies show that the two main sources of information about ECT are films and
the mass media.
that ECT is a safe and effective method of treatment during pregnancy [18]. Another
very concerning issue is the correlation between watching movies regarding ECT and
the level of knowledge about this procedure because majority of respondents in this
study indicated them as a primary source of information about the topic. Also many
other studies show that the two main sources of information about ECT are films and
the mass media.
This is a carefully conducted and nicely presented paper with results of a survey done on Facebook. While the findings are not at all surprising, it is helpful to have these data in the literature; they raise awareness of the the ignorance of, and misperceptions about, ECT in the younger generation in Poland, including among medical students. Of course, similar findings have been presented from most countries around the world.
Improved ECT education, starting with teaching our medical colleagues in other specialties the simple fact that ECT is performed under general anesthesia, remains a paramount challenge for our field.
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