Bain Luchuo Engelbert, Awah Paschal Kum, Takougang Innocent, Sigal Yelena, Ajime Tom T
Centre For Population Studies and Health Promotion, CPSHP, BP 7535 Yaounde, Cameroon.
Pan Afr Med J. 2013;14:32. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2013.14.32.2284. Epub 2013 Jan 22.
Epilepsy 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.
To 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.
Most 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).
Adults 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.
癫痫相关的污名仍然是癫痫治疗的主要障碍，尤其是在发展中国家。在非洲，抗癫痫药物可得、价格亲民且有效。截至目前，喀麦隆这个癫痫患病率较高的地区尚未有关于癫痫认知和态度的社区调查报道。
为了为国家癫痫控制计划的制定提供数据，我们对520户家庭进行了横断面描述性社区调查。我们的主要目标是获取喀麦隆农村地区成年人对癫痫的知识、态度和行为的基线数据，并与现有数据进行比较。
大多数受访者听说过或读过关于癫痫的信息，认识患有癫痫的人，并且见过有人癫痫发作。最常被提及的癫痫病因是巫术。大多数受访者认为癫痫具有传染性。33.5%的受访者认为癫痫是一种疯狂或精神错乱的形式。只有54.9%的受访者会去看医生进行治疗。大多数受访者不会给予癫痫患者平等的就业机会、社交机会，也不会允许癫痫患者结婚生子。年龄、女性性别和教育程度与负面态度相关（p<0.001）。
丰东的成年人对癫痫非常熟悉，但对这种疾病有许多错误的认知。他们的态度总体上是负面的。国家癫痫计划必须强调癫痫的传播方式、治疗选择以及癫痫发作时的急救措施。在健康信息、教育和宣传项目中，老年人（>50岁）和未接受过任何正规教育的人应作为主要目标人群。
