Electroconvulsive therapy: a survey of use in the private psychiatric hospital.

All 184 member hospitals of the National Association of Private Psychiatric Hospitals (NAPPH) were sent a specially designed 19-item questionnaire regarding their use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Of the 153 respondents, 89 (58%) reported using ECT. Most followed the guidelines delineated in the 1978 American Psychiatric Association Task Force Report.