Vanessa Cristina Colares Lessa, Marília Bezerra Magalhães Martins, Alexandra Seide Cardoso Vidal, Leonardo Alves Araujo, Isabella D'Andrea Meira
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The Basic Health Unit (Unidade Básica de Saúde - UBS, in Portuguese) is the first point of contact in the public healthcare system for people with epilepsy. Primary care professionals need to appropriately diagnose, treat, and refer, if necessary, to tertiary services.
Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of UBS professionals on the management of patients with epilepsy in Rio de Janeiro.
Methods: Online questionnaires were performed on the topic of epilepsy before and after exposure to classes taught by epileptologists.
Results: A total of 66 doctors participated, 54.5% of whom were residents or trained in family medicine. The majority had from 1 to 3 years of practice. Insecurity prevailed in the management of pregnant women and the elderly. Around 59.1% of the participants referred patients with seizures without examinations. A total of 78% of the participants did not correctly classify seizure types, and 2/3 did not define drug-resistant epilepsy. Induction and broad-spectrum drugs were common. The therapeutic decision depended on availability in the basic health unit (UBS) (81.8%), dosage (60.6%), side effects (34.8%), and age (36.4%). Comorbidities and sex influenced 1/4 of the sample. For 23% of the participants, the type of crisis did not affect the choice. Regarding typical non-pharmacological options, 75% of the participants were aware of cannabidiol, 40.9% of surgery, 22.7% of ketogenic diet, and 22.8% of deep brain stimulation/vagus nerve stimulation (DBS/VNS). A total of 90.2% indicated the need for training.
Conclusion: There are deficits in the knowledge of UBS professionals in the management of epilepsy. Specialized training is imperative to optimize the care offered within SUS.
期刊介绍:
Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria is the official journal of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology. The mission of the journal is to provide neurologists, specialists and researchers in Neurology and related fields with open access to original articles (clinical and translational research), editorials, reviews, historical papers, neuroimages and letters about published manuscripts. It also publishes the consensus and guidelines on Neurology, as well as educational and scientific material from the different scientific departments of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology.
The ultimate goals of the journal are to contribute to advance knowledge in the areas of Neurology and Neuroscience, and to provide valuable material for training and continuing education for neurologists and other health professionals working in the area. These goals might contribute to improving care for patients with neurological diseases. We aim to be the best Neuroscience journal in Latin America within the peer review system.