Research Laboratory (LR19ES15), Sfax Medical School, Sfax University, Tunisia; Child Neurology Department, Hedi Chaker Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia.
Research Laboratory (LR19ES15), Sfax Medical School, Sfax University, Tunisia; Child Neurology Department, Hedi Chaker Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia.
Epilepsy Behav. 2021 Sep;122:108151. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108151. Epub 2021 Jun 30.
Epilepsy is one of the most stigmatizing disorders. Stigma and negative attitudes associated with epilepsy are due to poor public awareness and knowledge. This study evaluated knowledge, awareness, and attitude toward epilepsy among Tunisian general population.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted between 2017 and 2019. On national epilepsy day on February and during awareness campaigns at Sfax Tunisia, we asked people who visited the epilepsy stand to anonymously answer a 31-item questionnaire on epilepsy.
Five hundred and four participants have been included. About 43.6% of participants had personal or familial history of epilepsy. More than seventy percent of subjects thought that epilepsy is a neurological disease and 34.1% believed it is psychiatric. Majority (92.1%) of our population believed that epilepsy is non-contagious but 37.7% thought it is hereditary and 55.8% thought it causes intellectual deficiency. EEG was the most reported diagnostic method (61.7%). The two most popular therapeutic modalities reported in our population were drug treatment alone (85.3%) and associated with Quran (35.3%). Most (91.1%) of people thought that a person with epilepsy can get married. A person with epilepsy is able to study according to 92.7% of respondents, but 66.3% assumed that he/she suffers from difficulty concentrating. Subjects younger than 45 years were more aware of the ability of people with epilepsy to study and get married. We did not find any significant differences in knowledge and attitudes between subjects familiar with epilepsy and the rest of the population.
The public knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy were acceptable with regard to this study. However, negative attitudes and misunderstanding still exist.
癫痫是最具污名化的疾病之一。癫痫相关的污名和负面态度归因于公众意识和知识的匮乏。本研究评估了突尼斯普通人群对癫痫的认知、意识和态度。
这是一项横断面研究，于 2017 年至 2019 年进行。在 2 月的国家癫痫日和突尼斯斯法克斯的宣传活动期间，我们请参观癫痫展台的人匿名回答一份关于癫痫的 31 项问卷。
共纳入 504 名参与者。约 43.6%的参与者有个人或家族癫痫病史。超过 70%的受试者认为癫痫是一种神经系统疾病，34.1%的人认为它是一种精神疾病。大多数（92.1%）人认为癫痫是非传染性的，但 37.7%的人认为它是遗传性的，55.8%的人认为它会导致智力缺陷。脑电图是最常报道的诊断方法（61.7%）。我们人群中报告的两种最受欢迎的治疗方式是单独药物治疗（85.3%）和与《古兰经》联合治疗（35.3%）。大多数（91.1%）人认为癫痫患者可以结婚。92.7%的受访者认为癫痫患者能够学习，但 66.3%的人认为他们注意力不集中。年龄小于 45 岁的人更了解癫痫患者学习和结婚的能力。我们没有发现熟悉癫痫的人与其他人群之间在知识和态度方面存在显著差异。
本研究中，公众对癫痫的认知和态度是可以接受的。然而，仍然存在负面态度和误解。
