Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, United States.
Epilepsy Behav. 2018 Dec;89:23-29. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.08.024. Epub 2018 Oct 26.
The objectives of the study were to assess attitudes toward epilepsy among medical staffs from basic-level hospitals in southern China and identify significant predictive factors for future stigma reduction interventions.
The Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale, a two dimensional 14-item scale addressing two major domains: general domain and personal domain, was administered to 448 medical staffs from basic-level hospitals in southern China. Positively stated items in the PATE scale were reversely scored; in this case, a higher score would indicate a more negative attitude. Also, we compared the overall score and per-item scores of the medical staffs versus those of the general population reported in the previous studies using the same scale.
The cumulative score of the medical staffs was 41.65 ± 6.99, which is significantly lower as compared with 51.38 ± 6.80 of the general population (t (645) = -16.473, p < 0.001). The general average score (t (645) = -16.473, p < 0.001) and the mean score in the general domain (t (645) = -22.573, p < 0.001) of the PATE scale were both significantly lower in the medical staffs compared with the general population, whereas there was no significant difference between the two groups in the personal domain (t(645) = -0.180, p = 0.857). Age or years in clinical practice, specialty, and title had a significant impact on both the general domain and personal domain. Residence was the only factor found affecting the medical staffs' attitudes toward epilepsy in the personal domain but not in the general domain.
Medical staffs from basic-level hospitals in southern China demonstrate significant positive attitudes toward people with epilepsy in general aspects when compared with the general population. However, they still showed negative and conservative attitudes when it comes to the personal domain. Future strategies for stigma-reducing public interventions could focus on increasing better understanding of epilepsy among medical staffs in basic-level hospitals in China.
本研究旨在评估中国南方基层医院医务人员对癫痫的态度，并确定未来减少污名化干预的显著预测因素。
采用包含两个主要领域的二维 14 项癫痫公众态度量表（PATE），对来自中国南方基层医院的 448 名医务人员进行调查。PATE 量表中的正向陈述项目被反向评分；在这种情况下，较高的分数表示更消极的态度。此外，我们将医务人员的总分和各项目得分与使用相同量表的既往研究中一般人群的得分进行了比较。
医务人员的累积得分为 41.65±6.99，显著低于一般人群的 51.38±6.80（t(645)=-16.473，p<0.001）。PATE 量表的一般平均分（t(645)=-16.473，p<0.001）和一般领域平均分（t(645)=-22.573，p<0.001）在医务人员中均显著低于一般人群，而在个人领域两组间无显著差异（t(645)=-0.180，p=0.857）。年龄、临床工作年限、专业和职称对一般领域和个人领域均有显著影响。居住地是唯一影响医务人员个人领域对癫痫态度的因素，但对一般领域没有影响。
与一般人群相比，中国南方基层医院的医务人员对癫痫患者总体上表现出积极的态度。然而，当涉及个人领域时，他们仍然表现出消极和保守的态度。未来减少污名化的公众干预策略可以集中在提高中国基层医院医务人员对癫痫的认识上。
