Pregnancy in multiple sclerosis: a questionnaire study.

Abstract

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. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expertise about pregnancy related topics in multiple sclerosis of neurologists in private practice. We developed a survey with 16 multiple choice questions about pregnancy related topics and sent it to neurologists in private practice in Berlin, Germany. 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). To provide a comprehensive counseling, MS patients with desire for children should be counseled by physicians with a lot of experience in MS treatment.