Perception of epilepsy among public workers: Perspectives from a developing country

Knowledge, attitude and practice of epilepsy among community residents in Enugu, South East Nigeria

“…6 Children experiencing cognitive difficulties due to the side effects of AED's or due to the severity of the condition itself may be regarded as lazy by both teachers and parents. 7,8 Added to these factors are the perception of epilepsy as a manifestation of supernatural forces, taboos, contagious and spread by body fluids [9][10][11] which lead to high levels of stigma in SSA.…”

Knowledge, attitudes, and first-aid measures about epilepsy among primary school teachers in northern Iran

“…PWE,13 parents of CWE,14 healthcare professionals,15 the public,16 and open-ended interviews with eight experts in the field of epilepsy, including neurologists, public health experts, health educators, and rehabilitation counselors.Content validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by a group consisting five neurologists and public health experts. An item discrimination analysis was conducted for each scale to eliminate the too difficult and too easy items.…”

Pattern and determinants of self-reported enacted stigma among rural dwellers living with epilepsy attending a tertiary health facility in Enugu State Nigeria

“…Other areas of stigmatization were interaction with their peers (43.8%), been avoided (32.4%), not getting a job/keeping a job (31.5%) and getting a life partner (24.1%). One common reason for high levels of stigmatization in these areas is the fear of contagion [37,38]. This fear of contagion leads to avoidance of convulsing persons, social rejection, and unwillingness to interact with them.…”

“…High rates of unemployment among PWE may translate to added economic burden for their caregivers or relatives thus worsening poverty and nonadherence to medications. KAP reports from South East Nigeria, confirms the unwillingness of people to employ or work with PWE [38,40]. Although not much is known about stigmatization at the work place and its consequences among PWE in southeast Nigeria; the combination of poverty, stigma, low levels of awareness, lack of institutional/legal framework and lack of education coalesce to worsen unemployment and underemployment among PWE.…”

“…Healthcare professionals and allied workers may also endorse negative attitudes [5,43]. In a survey of hospital workers by Ndukuba and Ekenze [38], epilepsy was considered a mental disorder by 16.8%, and contagious by 6.3% of health workers. The authors reported that although health-care workers have better perceptions but stigma against PWE is still prevalent.…”