Departments of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Departments of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Epilepsy Behav. 2023 Aug;145:109340. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109340. Epub 2023 Jul 7.
Epilepsy ranks among the major noncommunicable diseases that confer significant morbidity and mortality. A lack of knowledge about epilepsy, coupled with negative attitude and false practices, has been shown to be influenced by sociodemographic parameters and in turn impacts healthcare-seeking behavior.
An observational single-center study was conducted at a tertiary care center in western India. Data on sociodemographic parameters, clinical and healthcare-seeking patterns were recorded from all patients above 18 years with a diagnosis of epilepsy. A pre-validated questionnaire was then administered to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices related to epilepsy. Data collected were evaluated.
A total of 320 patients with epilepsy were recruited for the study. Majority of the study subjects were young Hindu males from urban and semi-urban areas. Idiopathic generalized epilepsy was the most common diagnosis with significant number of patients showing poor seizure control. The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) responses showed serious gaps in various aspects. Prevalent misconceptions were that epilepsy is a mental problem (40%), is a hereditary disorder (24.1%), is contagious (13.4%), and is a result of previous life sin (38.8%). With respect to discrimination in epilepsy using KAP questionnaire, most of the respondents (>80%) did not object to sitting or playing with a child with epilepsy. A significant proportion of patients (78.8%) feared from the side effects of long-term antiepileptic drug treatment. Almost one-third persons (31.6%) did not know the correct response in terms of first aid measures. The mean KAP score was 14.33 (±3.017 SD), significantly higher in better educated people from urban areas (p < 0.001 for both). Healthcare-seeking behavior with preference for early allopathic care had a positive correlation with various sociodemographic characteristics as well as with higher mean KAP scores.
Despite improved literacy and urbanization, knowledge regarding epilepsy still remains poor with wide prevalence of traditional wisdom and practices. Though better education, employment, and awareness may partially overcome the impediments resulting in delay in seeking early appropriate healthcare after first seizure, the issue is more complex and multifactorial, and a multipronged approach is need of the hour.
癫痫是主要的非传染性疾病之一，会导致严重的发病率和死亡率。缺乏对癫痫的了解，加上负面的态度和错误的做法，已被证明受到社会人口参数的影响，进而影响寻求医疗保健的行为。
在印度西部的一家三级保健中心进行了一项观察性单中心研究。从所有被诊断患有癫痫的 18 岁以上患者中记录社会人口统计学参数、临床和医疗保健模式的数据。然后，使用预先验证的问卷评估与癫痫相关的知识、态度和实践。评估收集的数据。
共有 320 名癫痫患者参加了这项研究。研究对象主要是来自城市和半城市地区的年轻印度教男性。特发性全面性癫痫是最常见的诊断，有相当数量的患者表现出癫痫控制不佳。知识、态度和实践（KAP）的反应在各个方面都存在严重差距。普遍存在的误解是癫痫是一种精神问题（40%）、是一种遗传性疾病（24.1%）、具有传染性（13.4%），是前世罪恶的结果（38.8%）。使用 KAP 问卷评估对癫痫的歧视，大多数受访者（>80%）不反对与患有癫痫的孩子坐在一起或一起玩耍。很大一部分患者（78.8%）害怕长期抗癫痫药物治疗的副作用。几乎三分之一的人（31.6%）不知道在急救措施方面的正确反应。平均 KAP 得分为 14.33（±3.017 SD），在受教育程度较高的城市居民中明显更高（p<0.001）。对早期西医治疗的偏好与各种社会人口统计学特征以及较高的平均 KAP 得分呈正相关的医疗保健寻求行为。
尽管文化程度和城市化水平有所提高，但对癫痫的认识仍然很差，传统智慧和做法广泛存在。尽管更好的教育、就业和意识可能在一定程度上克服导致首次发作后延迟寻求早期适当医疗保健的障碍，但问题更为复杂和多因素，需要采取多管齐下的方法。
