Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine the level of awareness of movement disorders (MD) among general neurologists (GN) in Ukraine.

Background: Awareness of MD among GN and their experience in this area may vary significantly across countries. In Ukraine, there are very few specialists in MD. Therefore, the quality of care provided to patients with MD depends primarily on GN.

Method: 13 GN from different cities of Ukraine agreed to take part in an anonymous survey. The work experience in neurology ranged from 8 to 48 years (21.7±11.8), of whom 53.8% were consultants. All GN who participated in the study work in large cities. The situation with the diagnosis of MD in small towns may be worse.

Results: All GN have completed 6 years of training at a medical university or institute, followed by 1 or 1.5 years of residency in neurology.

None of the GN had an international English language certificate of level B2 or above (like IELTS, TOEFL, OET), while one neurologist had an English language certificate issued by a Ukrainian institution.

Only one GN (7.7%) had the opportunity to participate in offline MDS events over the past 10 years, while 30.8% of GN participated in online MDS events, and all GN improved their knowledge by participating in numerous Ukrainian neurological conferences (usually more than 10 educational events per year).

Almost all GN were able to diagnose Parkinson’s disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET) over the past year [figure1]. However, other, more difficult disorders were not diagnosed by all GN.

Almost all GN responded that the patient history and clinical symptoms are essential in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, while one neurologist responded that genetic tests are the most important.

Only 76.9% of GN responded that the most common cause of parkinsonism is Parkinson’s disease. Unfortunately, 15.4% of them believe that it is atypical parkinsonism, and 7.7% – vascular parkinsonism.

Conclusion: Awareness of movement disorders among GN in Ukraine and their diagnostic and therapeutic experience have improved significantly over the past 10 years, especially in PD and ET. For example, the overdiagnosis of vascular parkinsonism, so characteristic of many post-Soviet countries, has decreased significantly.

However, as in other countries, there are problems associated with the diagnosis of atypical parkinsonism, ataxia, and hyperkinetic movement disorders. Some GN do not diagnose or rarely diagnose these diseases.

Figure 1.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/awareness-about-movement-disorders-among-ukrainian-neurologists/