Why the Delay in Diagnosis

Blepharospasm is a debilitating dystonia shown to affect quality of life, mood, and sleep quality [1,2,3]. With proper diagnosis, early treatment with botulinum toxin dramatically improved symptoms and quality of life [4,5]. Older studies showed unacceptable lag times from symptom onset to diagnosis prolonging the time to acceptable treatment [6,7]. Despite improved education, we noticed many patients presenting with incorrect diagnoses or on inappropriate treatments. The aim of this study was to explore time from symptom onset to correct diagnosis to evaluate how physician education has changed since initial studies in the United States.