ECT in the Asia Pacific Region: What Do We Know?

OBJECTIVE: To review and describe the practice of ECT in the Asia Pacific region in the year 2000. METHOD: A survey of 34 defined countries within the Asia Pacific region was made prior to the 1st Asia Pacific ECT Conference held in Melbourne, Australia, 2001. RESULTS: Contact addresses for 23 of 34 countries (70%) were found with responses from 12 different countries (35%). Individual responses were received from less than 1% of the total mail out for the conference. The percentage of inpatients who received ECT was consistently less than or equal to 9%, except for Nepal where it was 25.6%. Except for Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, all devices delivered brief pulse, square wave currents. All of the 12 countries surveyed used anesthesia, preferred bilateral electrode placement and reported a response rate of at least 86%. Adverse events were uncommon, memory being the most commonly reported side effect. Community attitudes were generally negative. CONCLUSION: Despite the difficulties in attempting to generalize about this huge and diverse region, a number of seemingly universal findings appeared in accord with the world literature. These included the widespread use of ECT, its effectiveness and its relative safety despite equally widespread community reluctance.