General practitioners and their perception of epilepsy care in the Mecca region of Saudi Arabia

Dr. Amal Alkhotani

Volume : IX, Issue : I, January - 2020

General practitioners and their perception of epilepsy care in the Mecca region of Saudi Arabia

Dr. Amal Alkhotani

Abstract :

Introduction: Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological diseases. Patients with epilepsy (PWEs) require long-term treatment and follow up. Since the majority of PWEs are well controlled on medication, general practitioners (GPs), as primary care physicians, play major roles in their treatment and follow up. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and management of GPs toward epilepsy in the Mecca region of Saudi Arabia. Method: This is a cross-sectional questionnaires based study conducted in the Mecca region. Results: A total of 51 physicians completed the questionnaire. The vast majority of GPs had witnessed a seizure at some stage in their professional career (92%), with only 8% of our responders never having witnessed one. The majority of GPs did not feel comfortable working up, managing, or initiating treatment for epilepsy patients (59%, 75%, 78%, respectively). A significantly large amount of GPs (65%) felt comfortable in following up stable PWEs. The most common Counseling by Gps were the importance of medication compliance (90%), avoidance of stress (82%), the importance of sleep (73%), and medication side effects (75%). In contrast, only 53% provided counseling on driving. Conclusion: Increasing the education of GPs to enable them to anch out into different areas of PWE management is required