title: Communicating the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: results of a survey among Greek neurologists.
abstract: In the frame of current treatment options for multiple sclerosis (MS) and recommendations for early intervention, we investigated the practice and attitudes of neurologists towards MS-diagnosis communication in Greece. We constructed and sent out a 22-item questionnaire to neurologists practising in different employment settings and geographic regions in Greece. Overall, 217 (37.41 %) of 580 neurologists replied. The vast majority (94.9 %) informs the patient of a definite MS diagnosis, and 73.6 % do so immediately, but only 41.7 % use the term multiple sclerosis. Furthermore, neurologists strongly agreed that timing of diagnosis communication depends to a large extent on the individual patient's personality (62.5 %) and mental state (52.3 %). Most neurologists (78.7 %) inform relatives about the diagnosis, but only in the presence of the patient. In cases where disclosure was delayed, 59.5 % noted that they did not observe any changes as regards the trust or confidence of their patients towards them. Most neurologists also noted that education level (72 %) and mental state (51.9 %), at the time of disclosure influenced patients who did not fully understand the meaning of their diagnosis. This survey provided some useful new findings with respect to MS diagnosis communication; however, the questions of how and possibly how much to communicate warrant further cross-cultural investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Neuropsychology Section, University of Patras Medical School, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papathanasopoulos
authors.forename: Lambros
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Messinis
authors.forename: Epameinondas
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lyros
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nikolakopoulou
authors.forename: Eftymia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gourzoulidou
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malefaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D009462:Neurology / Q000379:methods*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results