Understanding medical students' knowledge and attitudes about cerebral palsy

Children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities face barriers in obtaining equitable medical care. Although many factors contribute to these disparities, physicians' lack of knowledge and comfort when caring for patients with cerebral palsy have been reported to play a role. We propose that this gap in understanding may reflect a deficit in disability education during medical school.

To (1) obtain insight into medical students' knowledge regarding cerebral palsy at two medical schools in the United States; and (2) determine whether viewing a brief educational video increases short-term knowledge regarding cerebral palsy.

All medical students attending Wayne State University School of Medicine and Central Michigan University College of Medicine in November-December 2023 were invited to participate in the study. Respondents completed a three-step survey, in which they answered nine multiple-choice knowledge-based questions about cerebral palsy, viewed a 10-minute educational video, and responded to the same nine knowledge-based questions after viewing the video.

A total of 221 surveys were received (response rate: 14%). For the submitted surveys in which paired data were available, the percentage of correct responses at baseline (prevideo), averaged for the nine knowledge-based questions, was 45 ± 15% and increased to 67 ± 11% after viewing the educational video (p < .01).

Our results reveal that medical students' knowledge of cerebral palsy is limited and that a brief, focused educational session may have a short-term beneficial effect in mitigating this gap in knowledge.