Functional neurological disorder in Europe: regional differences in education and health policy.

disability benefits education curricula functional neurological disorder healthcare patient‐led organization

Journal

European journal of neurology
ISSN: 1468-1331
Titre abrégé: Eur J Neurol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 9506311

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
15 Aug 2024
Historique:
revised: 17 04 2024
received: 07 03 2024
accepted: 06 05 2024
medline: 15 8 2024
pubmed: 15 8 2024
entrez: 15 8 2024
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a common cause of neurological disability. Despite recent advances in pathophysiological understanding and treatments, application of this knowledge to clinical practice is variable and limited. Our aim was to provide an expert overview of the state of affairs of FND practice across Europe, focusing on education and training, access to specialized care, reimbursement and disability policies, and academic and patient-led representation of people with FND. We conducted a survey across Europe, featuring one expert per country. We asked experts to compare training and services for people with FND to those provided to people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Responses from 25 countries revealed that only five included FND as a mandatory part of neurological training, while teaching about MS was uniformly included. FND was part of final neurology examinations in 3/17 countries, unlike MS that was included in all 17. Seventeen countries reported neurologists with an interest in FND but the estimated mean ratio of FND-interested neurologists to MS neurologists was 1:20. FND coding varied, with psychiatric coding for FND impacting treatment access and disability benefits in the majority of countries. Twenty countries reported services refusing to see FND patients. Eight countries reported an FND special interest group or network; 11 reported patient-led organizations. FND is largely a marginal topic within European neurology training and there is limited access to specialized care and disability benefits for people with FND across Europe. We discuss how this issue can be addressed at an academic, healthcare and patient organization level.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a common cause of neurological disability. Despite recent advances in pathophysiological understanding and treatments, application of this knowledge to clinical practice is variable and limited.
OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to provide an expert overview of the state of affairs of FND practice across Europe, focusing on education and training, access to specialized care, reimbursement and disability policies, and academic and patient-led representation of people with FND.
METHODS METHODS
We conducted a survey across Europe, featuring one expert per country. We asked experts to compare training and services for people with FND to those provided to people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
RESULTS RESULTS
Responses from 25 countries revealed that only five included FND as a mandatory part of neurological training, while teaching about MS was uniformly included. FND was part of final neurology examinations in 3/17 countries, unlike MS that was included in all 17. Seventeen countries reported neurologists with an interest in FND but the estimated mean ratio of FND-interested neurologists to MS neurologists was 1:20. FND coding varied, with psychiatric coding for FND impacting treatment access and disability benefits in the majority of countries. Twenty countries reported services refusing to see FND patients. Eight countries reported an FND special interest group or network; 11 reported patient-led organizations.
CONCLUSIONS CONCLUSIONS
FND is largely a marginal topic within European neurology training and there is limited access to specialized care and disability benefits for people with FND across Europe. We discuss how this issue can be addressed at an academic, healthcare and patient organization level.

Identifiants

pubmed: 39145716
doi: 10.1111/ene.16350
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

e16350

Subventions

Organisme : Charles University
ID : CooperatioNeuroscience
Organisme : General University Hospital in Prague
ID : MHCZ-DRO-VFN64165

Informations de copyright

© 2024 The Authors. European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.

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Auteurs

Tereza Serranová (T)

Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Charles University, 1st Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czechia.

Ilaria Di Vico (I)

Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Michele Tinazzi (M)

Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Selma Aybek (S)

Faculté des Sciences et de Médecine, Université de Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.

Ervina Bilic (E)

Department of Neurology, Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.

Stefanie Binzer (S)

Department of Neurology, Kolding Hospital, Kolding, Denmark.

Erlend Bøen (E)

Psychosomatic and CL Psychiatry, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

Arnout Bruggeman (A)

Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.

Christo Bratanov (C)

Neurology Department, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France.
Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.

Veronica Raquel Alheia Cabreira (VRA)

Neurology Department, Centro Hospitalar Universitario de Sao Joao, Porto, Portugal.
Department of Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Dawn Golder (D)

FND Hope UK, Banbury, UK.

Anna Dunalska (A)

Psychiatric Clinic of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

Cristian Falup-Pecurariu (C)

Faculty of Medicine Brasov, Transilvania University of Brașov, Brașov, Romania.

Beatrice Garcin (B)

Department of Neurology, Avicenne Hospital, AP-HP, Bobigny, France.

Jeannette Gelauff (J)

Department of Neurology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Aoife Laffan (A)

Department of Neurology, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

Simon Podnar (S)

Division of Neurology, Institute of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Isabel Pareés (I)

Movement Disorders Program, Neurology Department Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Spain.
Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.

Tom Plender (T)

FND Action, Chatham, UK.

Stoyan Popkirov (S)

Department of Neurology, University Hospital Knappschaftskrankenhaus Bochum, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.

Volodymyr Romanenko (V)

Ukrainian Medical Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Petra Schwingenschuh (P)

Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.

Yury Seliverstov (Y)

Department of Neurology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.

Carl Sjöström (C)

Primary Care West Gästrikland, Sandviken, Sweden.

Matej Škorvánek (M)

Department of Neurology, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia.
Department of Neurology, L. Pasteur University Hospital, Košice, Slovakia.

Maria Stamelou (M)

Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders DepartmentHygeia Hospital, Athens, Greece.

Donatas Zailskas (D)

Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Mark J Edwards (MJ)

Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and NeuroscienceKing's College London, London, UK.

Jon Stone (J)

Department of Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Classifications MeSH