Awakening to sleep disorders in Europe: survey on education, knowledge, and treatment competence of European residents and neurologists.

Rakusa, Martin; Sieminski, Mariusz; Rakusa, Sofia; Falup-Pecurariu, Cristian; Fronzcek, Rolf; Hidalgo, Hildegard; Muntean, Maria-Lucia; Pijpers, Angelique; Cochen De Cock, Valerie; Pizza, Fabio; Schmidt, Markus; Schreier, David R; Baldin, Elisa; Bassetti, Claudio L A; Kallweit, Ulf

OBJECTIVES Sleep-wake disorders are common in the general population and in most neurological disorders but often poorly recognised. With the hypothesis that neurologists do not get sufficient training during their residency, the Young European Sleep Neurologist Association (YESNA) of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) performed a survey on postgraduate sleep education. METHODS A 16-item questionnaire was developed and distributed among neurologists and residents across European countries. Questions assessed demographic, training and learning preferences in sleep disorders, as well as a self-evaluation on the knowledge-based on 5 basic multiple-choice questions (MCQ) on sleep-wake disorders. RESULTS The questionnaire was completed by 568 participants from 20 European countries. The mean age of participants was 31.9 years (standard deviation: 7.4 years) and composed mostly of residents (73 %). Three-quarters of the participants reported undergraduate training in sleep medicine, while less than 60% did not receive any training on sleep disorders during their residencies. Almost half of the participants (45 %) did not feel prepared to treat neurological patients with sleep problems. Only one-third of the participants responded correctly to at least 3 MCQ. Notably, 80 % of participants favoured more education on sleep-wake disorders during the neurology residency. CONCLUSIONS Education and knowledge on sleep-wake disorders in European neurological residents is generally insufficient, despite a strong interest in the topic. The results of our study may be useful to improve the European Neurology curriculum and other postgraduate educational programs.