Impact of a locally tailored educational intervention on pediatric residents’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills in assessing primary headaches in children in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Despite being a common neurological complaint, headaches, particularly migraines among children and adolescents, are often overlooked by parents, teachers, and primary care providers. Clinicians play a key role in evaluating and managing care. This is vital for better outcomes and quality of life for affected children. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on residents’ clinical skills in identifying and managing primary headache among children .

Methods: The before-and-after intervention was conducted from October 1, 2021, to November 30, 2021, involving 122 pediatric residents from Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital, St. Paul Millennium Medical College, Arsi University College of Health Sciences, and Yekatit 12 Hospital Medical College. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire assessing their sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes, knowledge, and practices related to diagnosis and management of primary headache among children. The intervention involves a 1-hour and 10-minute facilitator guided instructional video on primary headache among children, which included discussions, questions and answers sessions, and clinical vignettes. The educational intervention was conducted both in person and via Google Meet. After the sessions, participants retook the same assessment questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26, employing paired t-tests, ANOVA, and other statistical measures to evaluate the results.

Results: The educational intervention significantly improved residents' knowledge, as evidenced by an increase in the mean test scores from 5±1.6 (pre-test) to 6.9±1.7 (post-test) (p<0.001). Residents with prior case discussions had a pre-test score of 5.3 (±2.0) and a post-test score of 6.2 (±2.0), which showed significantly better post-intervention scores (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The study highlights the poor knowledge among paediatric residents regarding primary headaches before educational intervention. Demonstrates the efficacy of educational interventions in enhancing their understanding and management skills. This suggests a need for regular, targeted educational programs to improve paediatric headache care.