ArticleThe South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa2017
Junior medical students' knowledge about and attitudes towards electroconvulsive therapy in a South African setting.
Article in The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Systematic Review of Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception Towards Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in Africa.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
- Knowledge and attitudes towards electroconvulsive therapy in an academic psychiatric department.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2024Article
- Knowledge and Attitudes of First- and Final-Year Medical Students about Electroconvulsive Therapy: The Impact of Media.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2023Article
- Mental illness attitudes and knowledge in non-specialist medical doctors working in state and private sectors.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe and effective treatment modality with a long history of use in psychiatry, it remains controversial owing to misconceptions and negative attitudes among the public and medical profession. The aim of this study was to explore the state of knowledge and attitudes towards ECT among a sample of South African medical students.
methodPrior to their theoretical psychiatry module, 131 second-year medical students responded to an anonymous online survey designed to assess the source and extent of their ECT knowledge as well as their attitude towards ECT and psychiatry in general.
resultsThe Internet (46.6%) and TV and/or movies (30.5%) were the principal sources of knowledge of ECT while 'professional publication' was the least common (0%). The students' attitudes towards psychiatry were generally positive and nearly one-third (29.8%) would consider specialising in the field. Overall, perception towards ECT was mixed, with many respondents approving of its use albeit only as a last resort. Notably, low ECT knowledge scores were associated with more negative attitudes towards this treatment modality and a lower perception of psychiatry as a medical speciality.
conclusionThe findings indicate that for these students, media is the main source of ECT knowledge. While they are generally knowledgeable about ECT, they still harbour some misconceptions and negative attitudes about the treatment. Knowledge appears able to amend these attitudes, thus underlining the importance of integrating accurate information about ECT into the preclinical medical curriculum rather than leaving it to mass media to forge warped perceptions and attitudes for these future clinicians.
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Registered trials
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