Knowledge, attitudes and practices of the Saudi population toward people with epilepsy: narrow or wide?

BACKGROUND

Although epilepsy has been acknowledged as an illness since ancient time, the public attitude toward epilepsy has not changed drastically due to the lack of appropriate information. This study aims to determine the public perceptions of epilepsy in five main regions of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional questionnaire-based study, Saudi citizens living in the major cities of the five main regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the central, eastern, western, northern, and southern regions) completed the survey that included 27 questions about epilepsy awareness.

RESULTS

A total of 7118 individuals from five regions participated in the survey: 6749 (94.8%) of respondents were Saudi, and 369 (5.2%) were non-Saudi. Of the 7118 respondents, 6897 respondents (96.9%) did not have epilepsy, and 3378 respondents (47.5%) stated that they had never witnessed an epileptic episode. In addition, 3749 (52.7%) respondents incorrectly attributed epilepsy to non-neurologic conditions, and 4865 (68.3%) respondents had an overall negative attitude toward people with epilepsy (PWE). They expressed objections to their child associating with PWE (2002; 28.1%) or their close relatives marrying PWE (3192; 44.8%), some believed that PWE are inferior (402; 5.6%), refused to hire a PWE (1126; 15.8%), and would feel discomfort around PWE (724; 10.3%). In addition, 2025 individuals (28.4%) believed that the health of PWE deteriorates over time; 1485 individuals (20.9%) believed that PWE get sick more often than others; 181 individuals (2.5%) believed that epilepsy could be transmitted; and 568 individuals (8.0%) believed that epilepsy could progress to malignant disease.

CONCLUSIONS

In Saudi Arabia, there is a substantial need for increasing the awareness and improving education on epilepsy in order to reduce stigma and increase the understanding of epilepsy. Such efforts could help improve the lives of people afflicted with the disease and ultimately contribute to better health outcomes for the entire community.