Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Epilepsy Behav. 2020 Nov;112:107441. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107441. Epub 2020 Oct 1.
Epilepsy is the most common noninfectious neurologic disease in Nigeria and other developing African countries. Epilepsy remains a stigmatized disease. The stigma stems from the traditional African belief, which views epilepsy as a spiritual disease. A lack of information and illiteracy has been blamed as the cause of the stigmatization.
The aim of the present study was to assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitude towards epilepsy among secondary school students in Nsukka.
This was a cross-sectional survey using a validated, self-administered questionnaire comprising four sections: demographic characteristics, awareness, knowledge, and attitude towards people living with epilepsy (PLWE). Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23. Descriptive analysis (frequencies, percentage, mean, and standard deviations) were used to summarize the data. The relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and knowledge score and attitude score was performed using chi-square analysis. Statistical significance was set as a p-value <0.05.
The majority of the students (87.4%) had heard of epilepsy as a disease. The most common source of information was the electronic media (21.5%). More than half (61.6%) had witnessed a convulsion in the past, and 36.9% knew someone with epilepsy. The majority of the students (66.7%) believed that epilepsy is caused by witchcraft. Jerking (77.3%) and loss of consciousness (82.4%) were identified as the commonest manifestation of epilepsy. Regarding treatment management of epilepsy, 81.3% of the students believe the use of orthodox medicine, while 85.4% would insert a spoon in the mouth when a seizure occurs as part of first-aid treatment. Nearly half of the students had good knowledge (48.1%) of epilepsy and a positive attitude (46.5%) towards the disease. The students' knowledge was associated with their school (X = 23.21, p = 0.001). However, students' attitude towards epilepsy was associated with their schools (X = 5.93, p = 0.015) and their guardians' level of education (X = 14.65, p = 0.012).
The findings of this study suggest poor knowledge and attitude towards epilepsy among secondary school students in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
癫痫是尼日利亚和其他非洲发展中国家最常见的非传染性神经系统疾病。癫痫仍然是一种被污名化的疾病。这种污名源于传统的非洲观念，即认为癫痫是一种精神疾病。人们认为缺乏信息和文盲是导致污名化的原因。
本研究旨在评估恩苏卡（Nsukka）中学生对癫痫的认识、知识和态度。
这是一项横断面调查，使用经过验证的、自我管理的问卷，问卷分为四个部分：人口统计学特征、对癫痫的认识、知识和对癫痫患者的态度。使用 IBM SPSS Statistics 23 分析数据。描述性分析（频率、百分比、平均值和标准差）用于总结数据。使用卡方分析研究社会人口统计学特征与知识得分和态度得分之间的关系。统计显著性设为 p 值<0.05。
大多数学生（87.4%）听说过癫痫作为一种疾病。最常见的信息来源是电子媒体（21.5%）。超过一半（61.6%）过去曾目睹过抽搐，36.9%认识患有癫痫的人。大多数学生（66.7%）认为癫痫是由巫术引起的。抽搐（77.3%）和意识丧失（82.4%）被确定为癫痫最常见的表现。关于癫痫的治疗管理，81.3%的学生认为使用正统药物，而 85.4%的学生在癫痫发作时会将勺子插入口中作为急救治疗的一部分。近一半的学生对癫痫有良好的认识（48.1%），对疾病有积极的态度（46.5%）。学生的知识与其所在学校有关（X²=23.21，p=0.001）。然而，学生对癫痫的态度与其所在学校（X²=5.93，p=0.015）和监护人的教育程度（X²=14.65，p=0.012）有关。
本研究结果表明，尼日利亚恩苏卡州中学生对癫痫的认识和态度较差。
