Public awareness, knowledge and practice relating to epilepsy amongst adult residents in rural Cameroon - case study of the Fundong health district

Abstract

IntroductionEpilepsy associated stigma remains a main hindrance to epilepsy care, especially in developing countries. In Africa, anti-epileptic drugs are available, affordable and effective. As of now, no community survey on epilepsy awareness and attitudes has been reported from this area Cameroon with a reported high prevalence of epilepsy.MethodsTo contribute data to the elaboration of the National Epilepsy Control Programme, we carried out a cross-sectional descriptive community survey of 520 households. We had as main objective to obtain baseline data on the knowledge, attitudes and practice of adults towards epilepsy in rural Cameroon, and compare with existing data.ResultsMost respondents had heard or read about epilepsy, knew someone who had epilepsy and had seen someone having a seizure. The most frequently cited cause of epilepsy was witchcraft. Most subjects believed epilepsy is contagious. Epilepsy was a form of madness or insanity to 33.5% of them. Only 54.9% of respondents would meet a medical doctor for the treatment. Most respondents would not permit equal employment opportunities, association and child's marriage to someone with epilepsy. Age, female sex and level of education were associated to negative attitudes (p<0.001).ConclusionAdults in Fundong are very acquainted with epilepsy but have many erroneous beliefs about the condition. Their attitudes are generally negative. The National Epilepsy Programme must insist on modes of transmission, treatment options and first aid measures during epileptic seizures. The elderly (>50 years) and those without any formal education should be the main targets during health information, education and communication programmes.

Community knowledge of and attitudes toward epilepsy in rural and urban Mukono district, Uganda: A cross-sectional study

“…The proportion of survey respondents objecting to a person with epilepsy marrying a close relative, are similar to those from some other sub Saharan African countries [26, 27] but lower compared to an earlier study from Cameroon [16]. Interestingly, there were no differences in response to this question related to survey respondent demographics among the study participants.…”

“…Community ignorance and misunderstanding about epilepsy, combined with the economic and financial barriers to availability of treatment in developing countries, plays an important role in preventing treatment becoming available to millions of people in developing countries [15, 16]. The main objective of this study was to provide baseline data of the public knowledge, attitudes and practice towards epilepsy in the Mukono district.…”

Sociocultural representations of epilepsy in the Central African Republic: A door-to-door survey

“…There is anecdotal evidence in Africa of 1960 that PWE were forced to be isolate into a shelter, or to leave home to hide in the countryside [22]. Even nowadays, social isolation has been reported as high as 67% in rural communities of Cameroon [23]. Social rejection is frequently experienced due to held misconceptions of epilepsy etiologies [24].…”

Epilepsy: what do Indian public living in Jammu know?

“…These results are in agreement to those reported from Al-kharj, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Jordan and India but lower from the study performed in Cameroon. [11][12][13][14][15] The source of information about the disease among the respondents was primarily family/friends followed by mass media in the present study and for one-fourth of respondents; it was doctors/healthcare workers. In contrast to these results, none of the respondents had learnt about epilepsy from health worker or medical doctors in a study by Kaddumukara M et al, from Uganda.…”