Neurologists’ and neurology residents’ knowledge of issues related to pregnancy for women with epilepsy

Abstract

We aimed to assess physician knowledge for 2009 guidelines established by the American Academy of Neurology and American Epilepsy Society regarding issues related to pregnancy for women with epilepsy. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to all neurologists and neurology residents practicing in a large Canadian health region serving a population of 1.4 million. Descriptive statistics were obtained and percentage of correct responses was calculated. Forty-five physicians completed the survey (response rate = 83.3%), with a median correct score of 50%. Residents were more likely (93.3%) to state that this information was important to their practice than staff physicians (40.0%). Overall knowledge of outcomes associated with specific AEDs was poor; less than half of the physicians correctly indicated which AEDs were associated with adverse outcomes for the majority of drug-related questions. We recommend multifaceted, interactive implementation strategies for increasing knowledge of guideline contents.