Scottish ECT Audit Network (SEAN)
Reporting on data from June 2023 to December 2023

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents a summary of the Scottish Electroconvulsive Therapy Audit Network (SEAN) data for June to December 2023.

Main points

• For June - December 2023, 60% of treatment episodes of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) administered were completed as planned.
• Just over half of treatment episodes (53%) involved patients deemed to have capacity to understand and who were able to give consent.

This is an image which shows the number of patients receiving ECT in Scotland between June 2023 to December 2023 by age group and sex. Typically more women received ECT treatment than men, with 65% of patients being women whilst 35% were men. These patients tended to be older in age, with the majority being age 60 and over. The largest proportion of patients were 70 to 79 years, with 18% of patients being women this age and 8% being men. The second largest proportion of patients were 60 to 69 years, with 15% of patients being women this age and 10% being men. Meanwhile, 8% of patients were women over 80 years old whilst 3% were men. The smallest proportion of patients receiving ECT treatment were 30 to 39 years, with just 3% of patients being women this age and 2% being men. The rest of the patients below age 60 consisted of 12% of women and 7% of men age 50 to 59, 5% of women and 3% of men age 40 to 49, and 4% of women and 3% of men age 30 to 39.

Close

Percentage of patients receiving ECT, by age group and sex (2022/23)

• Using the Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale, 65% of patients were much improved or very much improved following ECT treatment.
• The most common condition requiring ECT treatment involved a diagnosis of severe depression, recorded in 68% of treatment episodes.
• There were 23 documented adverse incidents (including dental damage, aspiration, prolonged confusion, prolonged seizure and adverse cardiovascular event). These form less than 1% of the number of treatments delivered during this period.
• Headache was the most common side effect after ECT (12% of treatment episodes) and has consistently been the most common side effect reported each year.

Background

SEAN began in 1996 as a national audit project examining the clinical practice of ECT in Scotland.

SEAN engages support from various clinical staff, including consultant psychiatrists, consultant anaesthetists, clinical psychologists, ECT nurses, operating department practitioners and recovery nurses.

Our ambition is to work towards increasing the opportunities for gathering the experiences of service users in a way that suits them best.

In June 2023, the new Scottish standards for ECT were published. This marked a change in focus for the audit, aiming to gather information on pragmatic and clinically relevant measures of ECT and focusing on treatment efficacy, side effects and safety.

As a result of this change, the new audit will be able to provide high-quality, validated information that can be used to drive improvement in ECT at a local and national level.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be September 2025.