Development and Validation of Comprehensive Epilepsy Stigma Assessment Tools for Developing Settings
Abstract number :
2.347
Submission category :
13. Health Services (Delivery of Care, Access to Care, Health Care Models)
Year :
2022
Submission ID :
2204294
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/4/2022 12:00:00 PM
Published date :
Nov 22, 2022, 05:24 AM
Authors :
Mundih Noelar Njohjam, MD – Epilepsy Clinic-Nkwen Baptist hospital; Sheela Toprani, MD PhD – Assistant Professor, Neurology, Epilepsy, Neurology, University of California at Davis
Rationale: Epilepsy-related stigma remains a major challenge in the mitigation of the impact of epilepsy in developing settings like Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are very few tools available for the comprehensive quantification of epilepsy-related stigma in these settings. This study aims to develop and validate comprehensive tools for the assessment of perceived stigma amongst patients with epilepsy and enacted stigma amongst people without epilepsy in communities with high epilepsy prevalence in Cameroon.
Methods: The 38-item scales were adapted from existing scales measuring stigma related to other chronic diseases like HIV/AIDS with questions that are relevant to community life in Cameroon. Community-based cross-sectional studies were conducted amongst 70 patients with epilepsy and 70 people without epilepsy in the study site. Internal consistency and reliability for both scales were assessed using Cronbach’s alpha test.
Results: Both scales had high internal consistency; 0.92 and 0.9 for perceived stigma amongst patients with epilepsy and enacted stigma amongst people without epilepsy respectively.
Conclusions: Both scales had excellent validity and internal consistency. They can be used to generate comprehensive data on epilepsy-related stigma in developing settings to inform public health interventions aimed at curbing the high prevalence and burden of epilepsy-related stigma in these settings.
Funding: This project is funded by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Health Services (Delivery of Care, Access to Care, Health Care Models)