Community Members’ Perception of Epilepsy and their Attitude towards Persons Living with Epilepsy Disorders in a Rural Community of Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Journal Title: International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal - Year 2015, Vol 4, Issue 4
Abstract
Aims: Studies on perceptions and attitudes towards people with epilepsy have focused mainly on students/teachers in the south and Northern Nigeria. This study aimed at assessing community members’ perceptions and attitudes towards epilepsy and persons living with epileptsy disorders. Study Design: A cross sectional survey and descriptive design using a convenience sampling technique was used to collect data. Place and Duration of Study: The study took place in a rural community of Bayelsa State, Nigeria between November 2014 and February 2015. Methodology: A pre-tested structured face-face questionnaire was administered to 120 community members that were randomly selected from each of the sixteen compounds in the community (72 men, 48 women, age range 18-41 and above). Results: Majority (50%) has heard about epilepsy, 13.3% know it as a brain disorder, 32.5% say it is hereditary, 46.7% believe epilepsy can be caused by supernatural powers, 55% thinks epilepsy is a highly contagious disease and transferable, 55.8% will not take a person with epilepsy to the hospital during a seizure attack, 73.3% said it is unwise for parents to send children with epilepsy to school for fear of ridicule by schoolmates, 100% will not marry neither allow their children marry any person with epilepsy and 63.3% will not disclose to their children’s spouses before marriage if son/daughter has epilepsy. Conclusion: Negative perceptions and attitude is strongly upheld in study environment, and may be hindrance to proper treatment and social interactions. Community mobilization campaigns are advocated to improve the quality of life of persons suffering from epilepsy and counteract misconceptions attached to the disorder.
Authors and Affiliations
Izibeloko O. Jack-Ide, Agnes E. Maliki, Olayinka Onasoga
Possible Effect of COMTVal158Met Polymorphism on the Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Externalizing Behavior: A Preliminary Study
Aims: Over the course of the past decades, studies on child maltreatment have increasingly adopted multiple levels of analysis (particularly by the inclusion of genetics factors) on the basis of the variability in childr...
Treatment of Primary Headaches in Paediatric Age: A Comprehensive Review
Primary headaches have a high prevalence in paediatric age and may pose a high strain on the quality of life of young patients. Adequate care involves a patient-by-patient approach, and this generally relies both on bio-...
The Spectrum of Herpesvirus Infections of the Nervous System in Adult Patients in Ukraine: A Prospective Single Center Study
Background: Herpesviruses (HVs) are ubiquitous pathogens that infect humans usually during childhood, followed by a life-long persistence in a latent state in many sites of a body including the nerve cells. After reactiv...
Acute Stress Disorder in Palestinian Children in the Gaza Strip
Aim: This study aimed to describe the range of acute traumatic stress disorder symptoms in a sample of displaced and non-displaced children and adolescents in the Gaza Strip. Methods: This was descriptive analytic study...
Desmoplastic Medulloblastoma Patients Survival after Multimodality Treatment
Aims: This is to investigate the results of the multimodality regimen including surgery, postoperative craniospinal irradiation and clarify the role of chemotherapy as well as the influence of multiple variables on desmo...