Clinical Research'Breaking Good News': Neurologists' experiences of discussing SUDEP with patients in Scotland

- A qualitative examination of neurologists' experiences discussing SUDEP with patients
- Clinicians state they regularly discuss SUDEP with patients who have been newly diagnosed with epilepsy
- Clinicians are ambivalent discussing SUDEP despite stating the experience is not distressing for themselves or patients
- Clinicians feel under pressure to discuss SUDEP and this may detrimentally effect the quality of their communication

Since the findings of a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) in 2010, clinicians working in Scotland have been advised to discuss the risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) with patients immediately or soon after a diagnosis of epilepsy is made. A thematic analysis was used to describe the experiences discussing SUDEP of 10 clinicians (six Consultant Neurologists and four Neurology Registrars) working in Scotland. Contrary to previous research, clinicians appear to be routinely discussing SUDEP in a standardized fashion with newly diagnosed patients and the FAI appears to have instigated this change in practice. Clinicians are ambivalent about the practice and whether this is a Breaking Bad News (BBN) experience. Clinicians appear to anticipate that patients will be anxious or distressed discussing SUDEP, despite their experiences that patients do not react this way. There are further concerns that the pressure to discuss SUDEP, as a result of the FAI, hinders effective communication of the SUDEP message. Implications for guideline development are discussed.