Communication practices and challenges of healthcare providers in febrile seizure counseling

Febrile seizures (FS) frighten parents, but few studies have examined how healthcare providers counsel families. We described providers’ FS communication practices, confidence, challenges, and resource needs, and how these varied with provider characteristics. In this cross-sectional survey, 150 healthcare providers (81 pediatricians, 46 nurses, 14 general practitioners, and 9 emergency physicians) at 5 facilities in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, completed a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics used 95% confidence intervals (CIs), chi-square and Kruskal–Wallis tests, and Firth, logistic, and ordinal logistic regression. Most providers used communication guidelines (85.3%) and verbal explanation (92.0%); other teaching methods were each used by <12.0%. After adjustment, >10 years of experience was associated with guideline use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.97, 95% CI 2.08–30.08) and higher confidence (aOR 4.20, 95% CI 2.08–8.52), and >5 FS cases/month with guideline use (aOR 4.04, 95% CI 1.54–11.46). Pediatricians reported higher confidence than other professions (aOR 2.40, 95% CI 1.27–4.54). Providers in pediatric hospitals more often had formal communication training (aOR 2.44, 95% CI 1.17–5.08), and those in private clinics/hospitals counseled longer (aOR 3.81, 95% CI 1.35–10.79). The most frequent challenges were misinformation (43.3%), cultural beliefs (42.7%), and strong parental emotions (39.3%). Providers most often asked for better educational materials (53.3%) and standardized guidelines (52.0%). FS counseling relied mainly on verbal explanation. Experience and FS exposure were associated with guideline use, profession and experience with confidence, and workplace with training and counseling time. Whether standardized guidelines and better materials improve parents’ understanding or anxiety needs testing in studies of parent outcomes.