Mohammad Halabi^1,, Abbas Halawani¹, Salman M. Alsubhi²

Background: Early identification and management of multiple sclerosis (MS) related symptoms and comorbidities by physicians can lead to better outcomes, improved quality of life, and reduced disease activity. Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge towards multiple sclerosis among family medicine residents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among a representative sample Family Medicine residents enrolled in the joint program of Family Medicine in Makkah, 2020. Self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. It includes two main parts; personal characteristics of the participants and assessment of their knowledge about different aspects of MS through 30 multiple choice questions. Results: A total of 116 Family Medicine residents participated in this study. Most of them (70.7%) aged between 26 and 30 years. Equally distributed regarding gender. History of attending conference about multiple sclerosis or neurological disorder was reported by 13.8% of the participants. Overall, 56.9% of family Medicine residents expressed good level of knowledge regarding MS. Female resident physicians were more knowledgeable about MS than males (69% vs. 44.8%), p=0.009. Majority (83.3%) of PGY4 resident physicians compared to only 47.2% and 47.4% of PGY3 and PGY2 resident physicians, respectively had good level of knowledge, p=0.040. Conclusion: A considerable percentage of family Medicine residents in Makkah city, Saudi Arabia expressed poor level of knowledge regarding all aspects of multiple sclerosis; particularly males. The highest level of knowledge was observed regarding treatment of MS, followed by complications while the lowest level was reported regarding symptoms.

multiple sclerosis, knowledge, family medicine, resident physicians, Saudi Arabia