The experience of living after ECT: a qualitative meta-synthesis

Abstract

Background

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a controversial treatment. Research has predominantly focused on clinician assessment of short-term efficacy and, occasionally, on participant experiences of the treatment itself. While service user accounts of the long-term impacts of ECT are reported, they are dispersed throughout the literature and typically tangential to studie’s main foci.

Aim

The aim of this study was to synthesise service-user accounts, within peer-reviewed literature, of long-term impacts of ECT in their daily lives.

Methods

A qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted. A systematic literature search identified qualitative articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Results sections of eligible papers were analysed thematically.

Results

From 16 eligible papers, the review identified 11 long-term impacts, four social influences and five strategies that people employed to navigate these long-term impacts.

Conclusion

Limited research has examined long-term experiences of ECT from service-user perspectives. These lived experience perspectives are required to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and assist future service delivery to align with needs of people living with long-term ECT impacts.

Keywords:

• Electro-convulsive therapy
• service-user research
• qualitative synthesis
• lived experience
• long-term side-effects
• quality of life

Disclosure statement

The first author is a service-user researcher with her own extensive experience of ECT.