Publications by authors named "Eva Pilato"

Introduction: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) related anxiety (ERA) is a common phenomenon with high individual variability. The way patients cognitively cope with the prospects of receiving ECT could be a mechanism explaining individual differences in ERA. Cognitive coping like monitoring (information seeking, paying attention to consequences) and blunting (seeking distraction and reassurance) has been linked to anxiety in various medical settings, with monitoring leading to more and blunting to less anxiety.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of medical students regarding electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and how various information sources influenced these perspectives.
  • A survey involving 295 first-year and 149 final-year students from KU Leuven showed that while final-year students had better knowledge and attitudes towards ECT, both groups scored below 50% in their overall knowledge.
  • The findings suggest that limited instruction on ECT in medical education contributes to ongoing misinformation, and reliance on media as a source of information can lead to negative attitudes that should be addressed in the curriculum.
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Objectives: The outcome of antidepressant treatments is generally assessed with standardized symptom scales such as the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Clinician Rating (QIDS-C). These scales, however, might not reflect patients' expectations for treatment, including a recovery of positive affect (PA) and hedonism. The Leuven Affect and Pleasure Scale (LAPS) was developed to better reflect patients' expectations for treatment.

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Objective: Maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (M-ECT) is considered an effective relapse prevention strategy in severe mood and psychotic disorders. How long M-ECT should be continued, and what the outcome is after its discontinuation has not been adequately studied. In our tertiary psychiatric hospital, M-ECT treatments were suspended at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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