Abstracts

Rationale: Our aim was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards epilepsy and identify its main determimants in a sample of lebanese people visiting or working at H pital H tel Dieu de France (HDF), a major university hospital in Beirut.Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 20 items was addressed to a total of 145 individuals randomly recruited among employees, patients family members and visitors of patients at HDF, and compare their KAP to that of 75 health care professionals at the same institution (medical students, residents et nurses). The degree of social stigmatisation towards epileptic patients was measured using a social rejection quantitative scale.Results: In the general population group : 16.8% had a family member with epilepsy, 33% knew an epileptic patient and 47.2% had witnessed a seizure. Regarding epilepsy: 6.3% thought it s a form of insanity, 7% thought it s spiritual and 12% proposed a spiritual form of treatment, 44.5% would place something in the mouth during a seizure. Half thought it s curable. Only 8 % thought epileptic patients IQ is comparable to normal people. 43.5% thought epileptic children should go to specialized schools.These tended to be mostly men and individuals of low social and economical status or conservative religious background. In the health care workers group : 77.3% had witnessed a seizure, but 60% would place something in the mouth during a seizure. 35% thought epilepsy is never or rarely curable, and 35% thought it s hereditary. 50% of the general population group refuse to marry epileptic persons and 17 % refuse to offer jobs for them, v/s 15% et 3% respectively in the health care workers group. The majority of individuals in the latter group (97.3%) had a low social rejection score. One out of three in the general population group had a high rejection score. Conclusions: Despite the significant differences in the attitude and knowledge between the two groups studied, social rejection rate in the lebanese population towards epileptic patients was in general low. Risk factors associated to such rejection were misconceptions about epilepsy and low educational level thus well organized educational campaigns are needed to improve public perception of epilepsy.