Background: Cases of fever associated with seizures are among the most common cases seen in pediatric age group. Various differential diagnoses must be put in mind while dealing with these cases. All physicians who commonly meet cases of fever with seizures should be aware of suitable management including proper history taking, close assessment and rapid systematic resuscitation till final diagnosis could be reached.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge and attitudes of physicians in different specialties who are involved in care of children regarding cases of fever and seizures.
Methods: We assessed knowledge and attitudes of physicians - working in different specialties in El Behaira governorate - in the management of patients of fever with seizures using a questionnaire-based cross sectional study conducted from February-August 2021.
Results: In this study, of the 380 physicians who responded to the questionnaire, (27.1%) were males and (72.9%) were females, (16%) were consultants, (58.4%) were specialists, (20.3%) were resident and (5.3%) were general practitioners. Regarding specialty, the majority were general pediatricians. Our study showed that the consultants were more aware of general knowledge about cases of fever associated with seizures in comparison to other groups of physicians. There was no statistical difference between pediatric neurologists and general pediatricians, however general pediatricians and pediatric neurologists were much more aware of these cases and showed better attitude of management than adult neurologists.
Conclusion: The study highlighted the wide variation in knowledge and attitudes of physicians in different specialties with different levels of experience toward the management of cases of fever with seizures. The use of clinical practice guidelines will help to minimize this diversity.