Knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy in Saudi families

Abstract

Objectives Epilepsy is one of the most common paediatric neurological disorders. Lack of awareness regarding epilepsy among the general population influences the lives of epileptic children. Misconceptions and misinformation about epilepsy in children should be identified and corrected. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy in families of epileptic children and families of normal children in Almadinah Almunawwarah, KSA. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Maternity and Children's Hospital from March 2015 to December 2015. A self-administered questionnaire was designed to collect data from the participant families. Results Of 168 participants, 150 completed the questionnaire. These included 64 families of epileptic children and 86 families of normal children. Of all the responding families, 67 families (44.7%) thought that epilepsy was related to Jinn. Logistic regression analysis showed that this belief was dependent on the family education level ( p = 0.004) and to the area of residence, either urban or rural ( p = 0.04). In families of epileptic children, the link of epilepsy to Jinn was related to clinical factors, such as the type of epilepsy ( p = 0.023), disease duration ( p = 0.039), and duration of treatment ( p = 0.028). Conclusions Our community still has misconceptions regarding epilepsy, even among families of epileptic children. Knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy must be corrected. Planned programs and campaigns should be conducted in the form of mass society education.

Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude and Practice of Parents towards Epilepsy among Children in Jeddah City

“…On the other hand, there was a positive attitude towards epilepsy among 88% of Saudi families regarding the good academic performance and intelligence of epileptic (13) . Also, in Riyadh, the same results were shown about the successfulness and achievement of epileptic child (16) .…”

“…The tool used in this study was a pre tested questionnaire that was based on other studies conducted in different parts of KSA among Saudi parents (13,14) . The questionnaire included the demographics of included subjects and the source of their information, items regarding the knowledge about epilepsy, questions about the attitude and items about practice pattern.…”

“…Genetic mutations also play a vital role in progression of epilepsy (8) .There is a lack of knowledge among community population about the epilepsy in KSA which was shown in different studies. The proper awareness about epilepsy among parents would result in positive attitude and practices toward their children thus lead to proper management of epilepsy and decreasing the complications among children (11)(12)(13) . The present study aimed at assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of Saudi parents toward epilepsy.…”

Prevalence of epilepsy in Saudi pregnant women and possible effects of anti-epileptic drugs on pregnancy outcomes

“…Discussion. Many regional studies have reported the perceptions and attitude of the general population towards epilepsy 10,12 and its prevalence which is known to be roughly 6.54 among every 1000 Saudi individuals. 13 The results revealed the prevalence to be 2.67%, which is significantly lower than some studies 14 but higher than the others.…”

Recent Advances in Antiepileptic Herbal Medicine

“…Epilepsy is defined as recurrent unprovoked seizures generated from excessive and abnormal cortical neuronal activity in the brain. An episode of epilepsy is characterized by a convulsive or non-convulsive seizure [ 4 , 5 ]. In pediatric population, it is very often associated with cognitive, behavioral and psychiatric comorbidities [ 6 ].…”