Kristensen MGH, Do TP, Pozo‐Rosich P, Amin FM. Interest in and exposure to headache disorders among neurology residents in Denmark: A nationwide cross-sectional survey.
Acta Neurol Scand 2022;
146:568-572. [PMID:
36004408 PMCID:
PMC9804557 DOI:
10.1111/ane.13681]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Headache disorders constitute a leading cause of disability worldwide, but there is a consistent absence of awareness and educational activities for healthcare providers across regions. Thus, we found it timely to identify potential structural challenges and factors that may affect acquisition of knowledge of headache disorders and their management during their 4-year residency.
MATERIALS & METHODS
We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of residents in neurology in Denmark including, but not limited to, questions on interest in neurological subspecialties and disorders, adequacy of training in headache disorders, exposure to headache disorders during training including time spent on headache disorders, exposure to specialist outpatient clinics, whether their hospital have a tertiary headache clinic, training in specific procedures (anesthetic blockade, e.g., greater occipital nerve blockade, and onabotulinumtoxinA for headache), and an estimate of proportion of cases with headache among patients managed in the last week.
RESULTS
The survey was distributed to 127 residents in Denmark between March 2022 and April 2022. Of these, 59 (47%) completed all questions of the survey. Headache disorders were the fourth most popular subspecialties among respondents (n = 15 [25%]) following movement disorders (n = 27 [46%]), vascular neurology (n = 26 [44%]), and neuromuscular disorders (n = 25 [42%]). The mean number of hours spent in a course or a structured educational activity in headache disorders during residency was 12.1 h. Half of respondents (n = 27 [46%]) reported that they perceived their training in headache disorders to be inadequate.
CONCLUSIONS
Even in Denmark, a country with excellent headache services, half of residents in neurology report an inadequate training despite a higher-than-average number of hours of structured educational activities. These findings should incentivize stakeholders to make structural changes to improve education in headache disorders during the most fundamental years of training.
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