Monitoring the occurrence and duration of electroconvulsive fits

During 100 routine psychiatric hospital electroconvulsive treatments the medical staff administering treatment experienced little difficulty in deciding that a fit had occurred. The judgement was based on simple clinical observation of a succession of clonic bodily movements, and high inter-rater agreement was found for the measurement of fit duration. The cuff technique was also used, but it tended to underestimate fit duration and is not recommended for routine ECT practice.