FV 918. How Do Pediatricians and General Practitioners Deal with Epilepsy Patients? Results of a Structured Interview

Background: The basic health care of epilepsy patients is provided by pediatricians and general practitioners.

Aims: Survey of experiences of pediatricians and general practitioners in the treatment of epilepsy patients

Question: Is the approach of pediatricians and general practitioners in the treatment of epilepsy patients different?

Methods: After the approval of the local ethics committee, pediatricians and general practitioners were asked in a structured interview about their experiences in the treatment of epilepsy patients.

Results: Forty pediatrists and 60 general practitioners participated in the study. When asked how they explain the clinical picture to patients, pediatricians mentioned earlier all “thunderstorms/lightning in the brain” (20%) and “electric discharges/short circuits” (20%). General practitioners mainly speak of “seizures/muscle twitches” (58%). In an open question as to which precautions are recommended, special safety precautions were mentioned for swimming by 75% of pediatricians and 8% of general practitioners. In an open question about the most common adverse drug reactions observed in anticonvulsant long-term therapy, pediatricians most frequently named fatigue/drowsiness (33%; general practitioners: 45%), liver damage/elevation of liver enzymes (23%; general practitioners 13%), changes in character/behavior (20%; general practitioners: 2%), and exanthema/pruritus (13%; general practitioners: 3%). The administration of emergency drugs by nonprofessionals in acute seizures was supported by 100% of pediatricians and 57% of general practitioners.

Conclusion: Differences between pediatricians and general practitioners were particularly evident in the way they explained seizures to patients, in information on swimming precautions, in the perception of changes in character and behavioral abnormalities under anticonvulsive therapy and with regard to the recommendation of emergency drug administration by nonprofessionals. Training for both professions should help further improve patient safety.