Nagamori Chizuko, Hara Keiko, Hirose Yuka, Ohta Katsuya, Akaza Miho, Sumi Yuki
Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan.
Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8519, Japan; Hara Clinic, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Epilepsy Behav. 2018 Sep;86:138-144. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.05.007. Epub 2018 Jul 13.
Public attitudes and stigma toward epilepsy may limit people with epilepsy (PWE) in seeking treatment and participating in social activities. The prevalence of epilepsy is approximately 0.8% in Japan, similar to rates reported in other countries. Although epilepsy is relatively common, few studies have investigated public awareness about epilepsy in Japan. Recently, several serious car accidents in Japan involving PWE resulted in pedestrian fatalities. Traffic accidents involving PWE have been reported extensively and repeatedly in the media since 2011. In 2013 and 2017, our research group conducted a large investigation of awareness about epilepsy targeting the general public. Previous studies have reported that knowledge is one of the factors involved in improving attitudes and reducing stigma. The aim of the current study was to compare survey results, especially regarding knowledge of epilepsy, and capture changes in public awareness between 2013 and 2017.
A total of 2160 people (1080 in each year) participated, with a total of 540 women in each year, aged 20-79 years. Participants lived in the greater Tokyo area as well as the Tohoku and Kansai regions of Japan. All participants answered survey questions online in January 2013 and April 2017. We analyzed five questions regarding the participants' demographic data, nine questions regarding knowledge about epilepsy, and five questions regarding experiences with epilepsy. For questions investigating the respondents' knowledge about epilepsy, we counted only the correct answers and scored these for each respondent.
Knowledge scores decreased from 2013 to 2017, demonstrated by statistical analysis. However, the effect size was very small. Knowledge scores among the following groups were higher in both 2013 and 2017: people who had read or heard about epilepsy, those who had witnessed people having an epileptic seizure, people who had acquaintances who were PWE, those who had PWE in their family, and people who had studied medicine or worked in a medical profession.
We revealed that participants who had some experience with epilepsy had higher knowledge levels in both 2013 and 2017. This suggests that such experiences could be important for motivating people to seek appropriate and accurate knowledge about epilepsy, and could result in a reduction of stigma. Greater awareness is needed among the general public in Japan about various aspects of epilepsy.
公众对癫痫的态度和污名化可能会限制癫痫患者（PWE）寻求治疗和参与社会活动。在日本，癫痫的患病率约为0.8%，与其他国家报告的患病率相似。尽管癫痫相对常见，但在日本，很少有研究调查公众对癫痫的认知情况。最近，日本发生了几起涉及癫痫患者的严重车祸，导致行人死亡。自2011年以来，涉及癫痫患者的交通事故在媒体上被广泛且反复报道。2013年和2017年，我们的研究小组针对普通公众开展了一项关于癫痫认知的大型调查。先前的研究报告称，知识是改善态度和减少污名化的因素之一。本研究的目的是比较调查结果，特别是关于癫痫知识的结果，并了解2013年至2017年公众认知的变化。
共有2160人（每年1080人）参与，每年共有540名女性，年龄在20 - 79岁之间。参与者居住在日本大东京地区以及东北地区和关西地区。所有参与者于2013年1月和2017年4月在线回答了调查问卷。我们分析了五个关于参与者人口统计学数据的问题、九个关于癫痫知识的问题以及五个关于癫痫经历的问题。对于调查受访者癫痫知识的问题，我们只计算正确答案，并为每个受访者打分。
通过统计分析表明，从2013年到2017年，知识得分有所下降。然而，效应量非常小。在2013年和2017年，以下几组人群的知识得分都较高：读过或听说过癫痫的人、目睹过癫痫发作的人、有癫痫患者熟人的人、家里有癫痫患者的人以及学过医学或从事医疗行业的人。
我们发现，在2013年和2017年，有过癫痫相关经历的参与者知识水平更高。这表明此类经历对于促使人们寻求关于癫痫的恰当且准确的知识可能很重要，并可能减少污名化。日本普通公众对癫痫的各个方面需要有更高的认知。
