Authors :
Presenting Author: Thomas Finnegan, PhD – Medscape Education
Christine Considine, BS – Medscape Education; Frances McFarland, PhD – Medscape Education; Anup Patel, MD – Nationwide Children's Hospital
Rationale:
Seizure control is a core goal of managing epileptic encephalopathies (EEs), though not the only symptom that needs addressed. Most EEs are also associated with varying degrees on non-seizure symptoms, such as behavioral, cognitive, sleep, gastrointestinal, and other consequences of disease. The ability to effectively manage the constellation of symptoms associated with EEs represents a substantial challenge for many clinicians. A project was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of an online educational intervention to improve knowledge of the care of non-seizure symptoms associated with EEs among both neurology and pediatricians.
Methods:
The online continuing medical education (CME) activity format consisted of a 75-minute video discussion between three pediatric specialists which was recorded during a live CME-certified symposium at the 2022 American Epilepsy Society annual meeting. Educational effect was assessed by comparing a matched sample of neurology provider responses to four identical questions presented before and directly after exposure to the intervention. A paired samples t-test was used for overall average number of correct responses and for confidence rating and a McNemar’s test was used to identify significant differences between pre- and post-assessment question responses. Cohen’s d was used to calculate the effect size of the online education. Data from the participants were collected between December 15, 2022 and March 26, 2023.
Results:
Participation in the CME intervention resulted in an educational effect size among both neurology (n=180; d=.37; p< 0.001) and pediatric providers (n=192; d=.29; p< 0.001). The following areas showed significant