Assessment of physicians’ knowledge and attitudes in the management of febrile seizures

OBJECTIVES: To assess the knowledge and attitudes of physicians in different specialties who are involved in the care of children with FS. METHODS: We assessed knowledge and attitudes in the management of Febrile seizure (FS) among physicians working in different specialties in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study conducted from September-December 2016. RESULTS: Of the 300 physicians who responded to the questionnaire, 178 (59.3%) were males, 119 (39.7%) were consultants, 92 (30.7%) were specialists, and 89 (29.7%) were residents. The majority were general pediatric consultants. Our study showed that the consultants were more aware of the definition of simple FS in comparison to other groups of physicians, and the difference was statistically significant. However, there was no difference between pediatric neurologists and general pediatricians. There was a statistically significant difference among various specialties in the perceived need to perform routine lumbar puncture, neuroimaging, and serum electrolyte determination in the evaluation of children with FS. On the other hand, there was no difference in the perceived need to perform an electroencephalogram among physicians in different specialties. CONCLUSION: The study highlighted the wide variation in knowledge and attitudes of physicians in different specialties with different levels of experience toward the management of FS. The use of clinical practice guidelines will help minimize this diversity.