Kolahi Ali-Asghar, Abbasi-Kangevari Mohsen, Bakhshaei Pouya, Mahvelati-Shamsabadi Farhad, Tonekaboni Seyed-Hassan, Farsar Ahmad-Reza
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Epilepsy Behav. 2017 Apr;69:147-152. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2016.10.018. Epub 2017 Mar 10.
Knowledge about epilepsy and attitudes towards patients with epilepsy can affect measures taken to manage epilepsy and seizures. Support and understanding of mothers is invaluable in enabling children with epilepsy to develop normal life skills in living with epilepsy. In order to identify the educational needs of mothers of children with epilepsy, their knowledge, attitudes, and practices should be assessed. Therefore, we interviewed a group of mothers of children with epilepsy who were referred to a pediatric neurology clinic in a teaching hospital. The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices among mothers of children with epilepsy in order to identify their educational needs.
In the period of August 2014 to January 2015, mothers whose children were diagnosed with epilepsy for at least six months participated in this cross sectional study, while returning to the neurology clinic of a pediatric hospital for usual follow-up. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, held by trained female general practitioners. The interviewer used questions from a questionnaire. The knowledge section of the questionnaire included questions regarding prevalence and general knowledge about epilepsy, its etiology, symptoms, and seizure provoking factors. The attitudes section included statements regarding the mother's attitudes towards epilepsy and patients with the disease. The practice section included questions about first-aid measures taken by mothers who had witnessed generalized seizures by the time of interview.
Responses of 206 participants were analyzed. At least 83% of mothers knew that epilepsy is a noncontagious neurological disorder which can be treated by regular drug therapy. In spite of demonstrating good knowledge scores, the majority of mothers felt the need for further training in epilepsy. More than 98% of mothers were against the idea that patients with epilepsy should hide their disease. Though having been referred to physicians, 84% of mothers had provided their children with at least one ineffective treatment, mostly based on superstitions.
Mothers' level of knowledge of epilepsy was good, and their attitudes towards epilepsy were mainly positive. Regarding the right first-aid measures at time of the last seizure, mothers' practices were acceptable. However, there is still room for improvement regarding avoiding the wrong measures. It is suggested that both practice-related issues and other aspects of epilepsy be taken into account in epilepsy-related education programs.
对癫痫的了解以及对癫痫患者的态度会影响癫痫及发作的管理措施。母亲的支持与理解对于癫痫患儿培养正常的癫痫生活技能至关重要。为了确定癫痫患儿母亲的教育需求，应对她们的知识、态度和行为进行评估。因此，我们采访了一群被转诊至一家教学医院儿科神经科诊所的癫痫患儿母亲。本研究的目的是评估癫痫患儿母亲的知识、态度和行为，以确定她们的教育需求。
在2014年8月至2015年1月期间，孩子被诊断为癫痫至少六个月的母亲参与了这项横断面研究，她们同时返回儿科医院的神经科诊所进行常规随访。数据通过由经过培训的女全科医生进行的面对面访谈收集。访谈者使用问卷中的问题。问卷的知识部分包括关于癫痫的患病率、一般知识、病因、症状和发作诱发因素的问题。态度部分包括关于母亲对癫痫及癫痫患者态度的陈述。行为部分包括关于在访谈时目睹过全身性发作的母亲所采取的急救措施的问题。
对206名参与者的回答进行了分析。至少83%的母亲知道癫痫是一种非传染性神经系统疾病，可以通过常规药物治疗。尽管知识得分良好，但大多数母亲认为需要进一步接受癫痫方面的培训。超过98%的母亲反对癫痫患者应该隐瞒病情的观点。尽管已咨询过医生，但84%的母亲至少给孩子提供过一种无效治疗，大多基于迷信。
母亲对癫痫知识的掌握程度良好，她们对癫痫的态度主要是积极的。关于上次发作时正确的急救措施，母亲的行为是可以接受的。然而，在避免错误措施方面仍有改进空间。建议在癫痫相关教育项目中考虑与行为相关的问题以及癫痫的其他方面。
