Figure 1 – Our methods for data acquisition, combining retrospective and survey methods.

We assessed the behavior, beliefs, prior experiences, and attitudes of Neurologists regarding patients with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) through paired assessments. We reviewed all inpatient consultations for a three-year period to identify cases in which the supervising physician made a diagnosis of FND, and then assessed whether they assigned FND-related diagnostic codes (ICD-10) for that encounter. We conducted a survey of US-based Pediatric Neurologists, including those physicians whose consultations we reviewed, to identify factors that influence a Neurologist’s decision about whether to utilize FND-related diagnostic codes. Finally, we compared physicians’ real-world diagnostic coding decisions with their stated beliefs regarding FND.