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Electroconvulsive Therapy in Schizophrenia in China: A National Survey
Qian Li1, Yun-Ai Su, Yu-Tao Xiang
1From the *Peking University Institute of Mental Health (the Sixth Hospital) & National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & the Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health (Peking University), Beijing; †The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Center of Depression, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders & Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing; ‡Unit of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macao SAR, China; §The University of Notre Dame Australia/Marian Centre, Perth; ∥School of Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia ¶Psychiatric Neurotherapeutics Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont & Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; #Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR; **Psychiatric Hospital, Guangzhou; ††Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan; ‡‡The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Province; §§West China Hospital, Sichuan University; ∥∥Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Jilin; ¶¶Mental Health Center, Xi-an; ##Jiangxi Psychiatric Hospital, Jiangxi; ***Suzhou Guangji Hospital, Suzhou; and †††Hebei Mental Health Center, Hebei, China.
Objective:
Little is known about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) use in the treatment of schizophrenia in China. This study examined the frequency of ECT use, its trend between 2006 and 2012, and its independent demographic and clinical correlates in a nationwide survey in China.
Methods:
A total of 5162 inpatients in 45 Chinese psychiatric hospitals/centers were interviewed (2696 in 2006 and 2466 in 2012). Patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure.
Results:
Electroconvulsive therapy was used in 6.1% of the whole sample; 4.7% in 2006 and 7.7% in 2012 (P < 0.001) with wide interprovince variations. Multiple logistic regression analyses of the whole sample revealed that patients receiving ECT were more likely to be women, receive second-generation antipsychotics, treated in tertiary referral centers (level III hospitals), had a shorter illness duration, and more positive and depressive symptoms (R = 0.181; P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Electroconvulsive therapy for schizophrenia has increased between 2006 and 2012 in China. Its percentage was higher than the figures reported in most other countries. Reasons for the substantial variations in the frequency of ECT across different provinces in China require further investigations.
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