Alhagamhmad Moftah H, Shembesh Nuri M
University of Benghazi (Al-Arab Medical), Faculty of Medicine, Paediatric discipline, Benghazi, Libya; Benghazi Children's Hospital, Benghazi, Libya.
University of Benghazi (Al-Arab Medical), Faculty of Medicine, Paediatric discipline, Benghazi, Libya; Benghazi Children's Hospital, Benghazi, Libya.
Epilepsy Behav. 2018 Jun;83:22-27. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.03.021. Epub 2018 Apr 7.
The aim of this study was to explore the level of knowledge regarding epilepsy and attitudes prevalent toward people with epilepsy (PWE) among Libyan university students in comparison with international data.
A self-administrated questionnaire on awareness regarding epilepsy and behaviors toward PWE was distributed among undergraduate students enrolled in the University of Benghazi. The collected data were analyzed against responses from an Italian survey that utilized a similar questionnaire to explore epilepsy-related knowledge and attitudes among Italian university students in Rome (Mecarelli et al., 2007).
Out of the 500 interviewed students, 96% successfully completed the survey. Further, 96.6% asserted that they possessed some knowledge regarding epilepsy, gained mainly from their families (76.6%). A total of 57.5% considered epilepsy to be a psychiatric disorder while 11.6% recommended psychological tests for the diagnosis of epilepsy. Moreover, 37.5% believed in ancient superstitions, such as possession by evil forces, as the underlying cause of the condition, and 31.8% recommended traditional remedies to cure it. Further, 66.6% deemed epilepsy as a barrier for career prospects, 41% indicated that it presents an impediment in participation in sports, and 35% considered it as an obstacle in marriage. Additionally, epilepsy was perceived as a severe illness by 53.3% of the respondents and considered to be a moderately severe condition by 43.7%. The responses were found to be statistically significant (P<0.05) against the responses from the Italian study.
There is a reasonable level of awareness regarding epilepsy among Libyan students, though a lack of accuracy in the acquired knowledge exists. The ancient misconceptions regarding the nature of epilepsy and negative attitudes toward PWE appear to be rather common among the Libyan students. Consequently, the discrepancies in the views between the two surveys concerning the ways in which epilepsy is perceived and PWE are treated were extremely evident, thus reflecting the already established view that epilepsy faces greater stigma as a health condition in developing countries in comparison with Western nations.
本研究旨在探究利比亚大学生对癫痫的认知水平以及对癫痫患者（PWE）的普遍态度，并与国际数据进行比较。
向班加西大学的本科生发放一份关于癫痫认知和对癫痫患者行为的自填式问卷。将收集到的数据与意大利一项调查的结果进行分析对比，该意大利调查使用了类似问卷来探究罗马的意大利大学生对癫痫相关知识和态度（Mecarelli等人，2007年）。
在500名接受访谈的学生中，96%成功完成了调查。此外，96.6%的学生声称他们对癫痫有一定了解，主要是从家人那里获得（76.6%）。共有57.5%的学生认为癫痫是一种精神疾病，11.6%的学生建议进行心理测试以诊断癫痫。此外，37.5%的学生相信古老的迷信观念，如被邪恶力量附身是该病的根本原因，31.8%的学生推荐传统疗法来治疗它。进一步来看，66.6%的学生认为癫痫是职业前景的障碍，41%的学生表示癫痫会妨碍参与体育活动，35%的学生认为癫痫是婚姻的障碍。此外，53.3%的受访者认为癫痫是一种严重疾病，43.7%的受访者认为是中度严重疾病。与意大利研究的结果相比，这些回答在统计学上具有显著差异（P<0.05）。
利比亚学生对癫痫有一定程度的认知，但所获知识缺乏准确性。关于癫痫本质的古老误解以及对癫痫患者的消极态度在利比亚学生中似乎相当普遍。因此，两项调查在癫痫认知方式和癫痫患者对待方式上的观点差异极为明显，从而反映出已有的观点，即与西方国家相比，癫痫在发展中国家作为一种健康状况面临更大的污名化。
