This report reviews electroconvulsive therapy trends in Europe, revealing disparities in treatment rates across countries.
Key Points
The aim is to analyze the provision and treatment rates of electroconvulsive therapy across Nordic and western European countries.
Data from peer-reviewed literature, governmental publications, and surveys were collected from European experts.
Primary analysis compared annual ECT treatment rates per million population since 2015 across 15 countries.
Secondary analysis examined trends in ECT rates over 25 years for countries with data from multiple timepoints.
In 12 out of 15 countries, Nordic countries had over 200 treated patients per million population; Italy had 2.7; other western European countries had rates between 30 to 100.
German-, Dutch-, and French-speaking countries experienced increases in ECT use over the past 25 years, while English-speaking countries showed declines.
Unilateral placement of ECT varied significantly, from 16% in the UK to 79% in Norway, with most treatments provided for depressive episodes.