Provider Perspectives of Barriers to Delivering Care for Pediatric Functional Neurological Disorder: A Thematic...

Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a multinetwork brain disorder existing at the intersection of neurology and psychiatry. FND often takes significant time to receive diagnosis and treatment. Given these delays, the purpose of the present study was to identify barriers to FND care from the provider perspective.

The Functional Neurological Disorder Society Pediatric Special Interest Group asked pediatric FND providers to specify barriers to FND treatment in their center in the United States. Two authors conducted thematic analyses to extract themes between respondents' qualitative responses.

Our analysis found that the US health care system is not adequately designed to provide timely and sufficient treatment for pediatric FND. Four subthemes emerged. First, providers identified limited access to health care professionals (HCPs) with specialized expertise in pediatric FND. The second delineated the lack of HCP education and competence in FND. Third, providers indicated the challenge of coordinating care and establishing bidirectional communication with their colleagues. Finally, providers identified financial support, including insurance coverage, as a barrier.

The present study highlights barriers to care for pediatric patients with FND from the provider perspective in the United States. These barriers existed regardless of geography, treatment type, discipline, or specialty highlighting opportunities to intervene. By improving provider education, general practitioners may gain increased confidence in quickly delivering an FND diagnosis; this could also allow additional providers to become experts in treating FND, thus decreasing delays to initiating care. Additionally, advocacy for increased insurance coverage may also help to eliminate treatment-related disparities for pediatric FND.