ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had major consequences for the organization of care. In France and around the world, centers practicing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have seen their activity decrease, or even stop for many reasons. In this context, maintaining or resuming this essential therapeutic activity for many patients suffering from psychiatric disorders requires material, human and logistical adaptations that should be supervised. The objective of this collective and national work is to offer simple recommendations that can be applied immediately by any healthcare establishment, public or private, practicing ECT. They are the result of feedback from multiprofessional and inter-establishment experiences. Declined in three stages, these recommendations are accompanied by a practical sheet which describes in detail the necessary conditions and prerequisites for any resumption of ECT activity.
Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus , Communicable Disease Control/methods , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Electroconvulsive Therapy , Pandemics/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , Practice Guidelines as Topic , COVID-19 , Communicable Disease Control/legislation & jurisprudence , Coronavirus Infections/transmission , Electroconvulsive Therapy/methods , Electroconvulsive Therapy/standards , France , Hospitals, Private , Hospitals, Public , Humans , Nursing Homes , Patient Safety , Patient Selection , Pneumonia, Viral/transmission , Procedures and Techniques Utilization , Protective Devices , SARS-CoV-2 , Social IsolationABSTRACT
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to major organisational changes in health care settings, especially in psychiatric hospitals. We conducted a national online survey to assess the evolution of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the different centres practicing this treatment. 65 responses from all over France were analysed. More than 90 % of the centres practising ECT experienced a decrease in their activity. Half of the centres experienced a total cessation of activity and 25 % of the centres experienced a decrease of more than half of their usual activity. Post-pandemic COVID-19 psychiatric care is expected to be difficult. It is essential not to add to this difficulty the complications, often serious, that will be associated with delaying or stopping the practice of ECT. It will also be necessary to remain vigilant with regard to the specific neuropsychiatric consequences that will follow the pandemic.