Knowledge towards Multiple Sclerosis among Family Medicine Residents in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia

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

¹Family Medicine Residency Program, Makkah city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

²Consultant Preventive Medicine & Public Health Saudi Board of Preventive Medicine-Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Cite this paper:
Mohammad Halabi, Abbas Halawani and Salman M. Alsubhi. Knowledge towards Multiple Sclerosis among Family Medicine Residents in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia. American Journal of Medical Sciences and Medicine. 2022; 10(1):11-17. doi: 10.12691/ajmsm-10-1-2

Abstract

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.

Keywords:
multiple sclerosis knowledge family medicine resident physicians Saudi Arabia

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Quintana FJ, Perez-Sanchez S, Farez MF. [Immunopathology of multiple sclerosis]. Medicina (B Aires). 2014; 74(5): p. 404-10.
[2]	Stys PK, Tsutsui S. Recent advances in understanding multiple sclerosis. F1000Res. 2019 Dec 13; 8: F1000.
[3]	Tobin WO. Management of Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms and Comorbidities. Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2019. 25(3): 753-772.
[4]	Abulaban A, Altowairqi A, Altowairqi H, Almutairi A, Altalhi S, Alotaibi F, et al. Multiple Sclerosis Patients Knowledge in Saudi Arabia. Neurosciences (Riyadh). 2019; 24(4): 327-330.
[5]	Zeydan B, Kantarci OH. Progressive Forms of Multiple Sclerosis: Distinct Entity or Age-Dependent Phenomena. Neurol Clin. 2018; 36(1): 163-171.
[6]	Marrie RA, Horwitz R, Cutter G, Tyry T, Campagnolo D, Vollmer T. Comorbidity delays diagnosis and increases disability at diagnosis in MS. Neurology 2009; 72(2): 117-124.
[7]	Thormann A, Sørensen PS, Koch-Henriksen N, Laursen B, Magyari M. Comorbidity inmultiple sclerosis is associated with diagnostic delays and increased mortality. Neurology 2017; 89(16): 1668-1675.
[8]	Kowalec K, McKay KA, Patten SB, Fisk JD, Evans C, Tremlett H, et al. Comorbidity increases the risk of relapse inmultiple sclerosis: a prospective study. Neurology 2017; 89(24): 2455-2461.
[9]	Tobin WO. Management of multiple sclerosis symptoms and comorbidities. Continuum 2019; 25(3):753-772
[10]	Kobelt G, Thompson A, Berg J, Gannedahl M, Jennifer Eriksson J; the MSCOI Study Group, et al. New insights into the burden and costs of multiple sclerosis in Europe. Mult Scler 2017; 23: 1123-1136.
[11]	Leray E, Yaouanq J, Le Page E, Coustans M, Laplaud D, Oger J, et al. Evidence for a two-stage disability progression in multiple sclerosis. Brain 2010; 133: 1900-1913.
[12]	Coles AJ, Cox A, Le Page E, Jones J, Trip SA, Deans, J, et al. The window of therapeutic opportunity in multiple sclerosis: evidence from monoclonal antibody therapy. J Neurol 2006; 253: 98-108.
[13]	Muraro PA, Pasquini M, Atkins HL, Bowen JD, Farge D, Fassas A, et al. Long-term outcomes after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis. JAMA Neurol. 2017; 74: 459-469.
[14]	Montalban X, Hauser SL, Kappos L, Arnold DL, Bar-Or A, Comi G, et al. Ocrelizumab versus placebo in primary progressive multiple sclerosis. N Engl J Med 2017; 376: 209-220.
[15]	Ascherio A. Environmental factors in multiple sclerosis. Expert Rev Neurother 2013; 13: 3-9.
[16]	Ramagopalan SV, Dobson R, Meier UC, Giovannoni G. Multiple sclerosis: risk factors, prodromes, and potential causal pathways. Lancet Neurol 2010; 9: 727-739.
[17]	Palacios N, Alonso A, Brønnum-Hansen H, Ascherio A. Smoking and increased risk of multiple sclerosis: parallel trends in the sex ratio reinforce the evidence. Ann Epidemiol 2011; 21: 536-542.
[18]	Orton S-M, Herrera BM, Yee IM, Ramagopalan S, Sadovnick A, Ebers G, et al. Sex ratio of multiple sclerosis in Canada: a longitudinal study. Lancet Neurol 2006; 5: 932-936.
[19]	Christogianni A, Bibb R, Davis SL, Jay O, Barnett M, Evangelou N, et al. Temperature sensitivity in multiple sclerosis: An overview of its impact on sensory and cognitive symptoms. Temperature (Austin). 2018; 5(3): 208-223.
[20]	Sintzel MB, Rametta M, Reder AT. Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis: a comprehensive review. Neurol Ther 2018; 7: 59-85.
[21]	Dobsona R, Giovannonib G. Multiple sclerosis – a review. European Journal of Neurology 2019, 26: 27-40.
[22]	Griffiths TD, Newman PK. Steroids in multiple sclerosis. J Clin Pharm Ther. 1994; 19: 219-22.
[23]	Montalban X. Do steroids have a long-term benefit? London: Martin Dunitz: Multiple sclerosis: clinical challenges and controversies; 1997. pp. 155-68.
[24]	Amatya B, Khan F, La Mantia L, Demetrios M, Wade D. Non pharmacological interventions for spasticity in multiple sclerosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013; 2: CD009974.
[25]	Beer S. Management of spasticity in multiple sclerosis. MS ALUMNI programme. Preceptorship course on rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis, Switzerland 25-26 Sep, 2014. Available at: https://www.excemed.org/ms-alumni/resources/management-spasticity-multiple-sclerosis-ms.
[26]	Briones-Buixassa L, Milà R, Aragonès JM, Bufill E, Olaya B, Arrufat FX. Stress and multiple sclerosis: A systematic review considering potential moderating and mediating factors and methods of assessing stress. Health Psychol Open. 2015 Jul; 2(2): 2055102915612271.
[27]	Marrie RA, Elliott L, Marriott J, et al. Dramatically changing rates and reasons for hospitalization in multiple sclerosis. Neurology 2014; 83: 929-937.
[28]	Montgomery S, Hillert J, Bahmanyar S. Hospital admission due to infections in multiple sclerosis patients. Eur J Neurol. 2013; 20: 1153-1160.
[29]	Sawatsky A. Instruments for measuring self-directed learning and self-regulated learning in health professions education: a systematic review Society of Directors of Research in Medical Education Monday, May 22nd 2017. Available at: http://www.sdrme.org/upload/312/Sawatsky_SDRME_Presentation_05.21.17.pdf.
[30]	Gomes de Medeiros Junior WL, Demore CC, Mazaro LP, Nascimento de Souza MF, Parolin LF, Melo LH, et al. Urinary tract infection in patients with multiple sclerosis: An overview. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2020 Nov; 46: 102462.
[31]	Patten SB, Marrie RA, Carta MG. Depression in multiple sclerosis. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2017 Oct; 29(5): 463-472.