A global survey on the attitudes of neurologists and psychiatrists about functional/psychogenic/dissociative/nonepileptic-seizures/attacks, in the search of its name

Asadi-Pooya A.A. Brigo F. Trinka E. Lattanzi S. Adel Kishk N. Karakis I. Ristic A.J. Alsaadi T. Alkhaldi M. Turuspekova S.T. Aljandeel G. Al-Asmi A. Contreras G. Daza-Restrepo A. Kutlubaev M.A. Guekht A. Calle-López Y. Jusupova A. San-juan D. Khachatryan S.G. Gigineishvili D. Mesraoua B. Dubenko A. Mirzaei Damabi N.
August 2023 Academic Press Inc.

Epilepsy and Behavior
2023 #145

Purpose: We conducted an observational study to investigate the opinions of neurologists and psychiatrists all around the world who are taking care of patients with seizures [epilepsy and functional seizures (FS)]. Methods: Practicing neurologists and psychiatrists from around the world were invited to participate in an online survey. On 29th September 2022, an e-mail including a questionnaire was sent to the members of the International Research in Epilepsy (IR-Epil) Consortium. The study was closed on 1st March 2023. The survey, conducted in English, included questions about physicians’ opinions about FS and anonymously collected data. Results: In total, 1003 physicians from different regions of the world participated in the study. Both neurologists and psychiatrists identified “seizures” as their preferred term. Overall, the most preferred modifiers for “seizures” were “psychogenic” followed by “functional” by both groups. Most participants (57.9%) considered FS more difficult to treat compared to epilepsy. Both psychological and biological problems were considered as the underlying cause of FS by 61% of the respondents. Psychotherapy was considered the first treatment option for patients with FS (79.9%). Conclusion: Our study represents the first large-scale attempt of investigating physicianś attitudes and opinions about a condition that is both frequent and clinically important. It shows that there is a broad spectrum of terms used by physicians to refer to FS. It also suggests that the biopsychosocial model has gained its status as a widely used framework to interpret and inform clinical practice on the management of patients.

Dissociative seizures , Epilepsy , Functional seizures , Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures , Seizures

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Epilepsy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Department of Neurology, Hospital of Merano (SABES-ASDAA), Merano-Meran, Italy
Lehrkrankenhaus der Paracelsus Medizinischen Privatuniversität, Salzburg, Austria
Department of Neurology, Christian-Doppler Medical Centre, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, 5020, Austria
Institute Neuroscience Christian-Doppler Medical Centre, Paracelsus Medical University, Austria
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salzburg, 5020, Austria
Member of the European Referencenetwork EpiCARE, European Union
Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT – University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria
Neurological Clinic, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy
Department of Neurology, Cairo University Epilepsy Unit (CUEU), School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
Clinic for Neurology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Medical Faculty University of Belgrade, Serbia
Deptartment of Neurology, American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, and Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O Box 34212, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Department of Nervous Diseases, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Iraqi Council for Medical Specializations, Faculty of Epileptology, Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq
Neurology Unit, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences and Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Epilepsy Unit. La Trinidad Medical Center, Caracas, Venezuela
Neurosciences and Complex Systems Unit (ENyS), Epilepsy Unit, CONICET, Hosp. El Cruce “N. Kirchner”, Univ. Nat. A. Jauretche (UNAJ), F. Varela, Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Department of Neurology, Bashkir State Medical University, Ufa., Russian Federation
Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neurology, Nerosurgery and Medical Genetics, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russian Federation
Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Calle 70 No. 52-21, Medellín, Colombia
Hospital Universitario San Vicente Fundación, Medellín, Colombia
Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, Neurology and Clinical Genetics Department, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Epilepsy Clínic. National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, México City, Mexico
Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, National Institute of Health, Yerevan, Armenia
Institute of Neurology, Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Tbilisi, Georgia
Neurosciences Department, Hamad Medical Corporation and Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar
Institute of Neurology, Psychiatry and Narcology of NAMS, Ukraine

Epilepsy Research Center
Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Department of Neurology
Lehrkrankenhaus der Paracelsus Medizinischen Privatuniversität
Department of Neurology
Institute Neuroscience Christian-Doppler Medical Centre
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience
Member of the European Referencenetwork EpiCARE
Department of Public Health
Neurological Clinic
Department of Neurology
Department of Neurology
Clinic for Neurology
Deptartment of Neurology
Department of Neurology
Department of Nervous Diseases
Iraqi Council for Medical Specializations
Neurology Unit
Epilepsy Unit. La Trinidad Medical Center
Neurosciences and Complex Systems Unit (ENyS)
Department of Neurology
Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry
Facultad de Medicina
Hospital Universitario San Vicente Fundación
Kyrgyz State Medical Academy
Epilepsy Clínic. National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Institute of Neurology
Neurosciences Department
Institute of Neurology

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