title: Pregnancy in multiple sclerosis: a questionnaire study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multiple sclerosis (MS) preferentially affects females at childbearing age. For this reason patients and treating physicians were frequently confronted with questions concerning family planning, pregnancy and birth.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the expertise about pregnancy related topics in multiple sclerosis of neurologists in private practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a survey with 16 multiple choice questions about pregnancy related topics and sent it to neurologists in private practice in Berlin, Germany.
  
  
  RESULTS
  56 completed questionnaires were sent back. 54% of all questions were answered correctly, 21% of the questions were answered with "I don't know". Correct answers were more often given by physicians who treat more than 400 MS patients per year (p = 0.001). Further positive associations were found for assumed relevance of the topic (p = 0.002) and the degree of counseling (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To provide a comprehensive counseling, MS patients with desire for children should be counseled by physicians with a lot of experience in MS treatment.
authors.affiliation: NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Clinical and Experimental Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Borisow
authors.affiliation: NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Clinical and Experimental Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Friedemann
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohlraun
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics Charité, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pach
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics Charité, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Clinic for Internal Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Clinical and Experimental Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dörr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D037001:Directive Counseling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires