How Much Do We Know? Assessing Public Knowledge, Awareness, Impact, and Awareness Guidelines for Epilepsy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy misconceptions are widespread; these influence the quality of life of people living with epilepsy (50 million people worldwide) and their families. Objective: The review’s objective was to highlight the public knowledge and awareness of epilepsy with an emphasis on its impact, gaps, and available guidelines for public awareness. Methods: The search databases included PubMed, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar using keywords, index terms as well as the Boolean search. Twenty-seven studies were included, which yielded three themes and six sub-themes. Results: Three themes emerged from the data: knowledge, beliefs, and awareness of epilepsy, the impact of epilepsy, and epilepsy awareness guide. From these themes, six sub-themes were established. Implications: Generally, people in Africa continue to hold misconceptions about epilepsy. This study shows that there is a need for further research examining the level of knowledge and awareness held in different contexts to develop a means to educate the general public as it has been revealed that there is generally inadequate knowledge and awareness of epilepsy. Furthermore, this study gathers knowledge that is now accessible as a threshold to much-needed research on epilepsy education, awareness and knowledge in Africa.

Epilepsy life skill education guidelines for primary school teachers and learners in Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces, South Africa: Multiphase mixed methods protocol

“…Education regarding Epilepsy is very prominent because it has the potential to decrease stigma and misconceptions regarding Epilepsy. Kaddumukasa et al [56], Hermann et al [3] and Musekwa et al [8], in their studies, also supported that when epilepsy education is strengthened, there is a reduction of stigma and misconceptions around it. Hashemi et al [57] also emphasised that it is of great importance when most people are knowledgeable about Epilepsy because, through the knowledge, they develop skills and are able to know how to manage an individual with an epileptic attack.…”

“…Knowledge and understanding of Epilepsy. Given the lack of knowledge and understanding of Epilepsy in the public, which is manifested through increased misconceptions [8,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33], the primary school learners will need to know and understand Epilepsy from the education provided in the primary schools.…”

“…Furthermore, there is a perception that PLWE are not supposed to get married and are excluded in social activities, resulting in self-blame and shame [7]. These misconceptions are caused by several factors identified by Musekwa et al [8], who revealed that poor education and low socioeconomic status contribute to the misconceptions and stigma toward Epilepsy. In support, Yeni et al [6], and Kartal and Akyildiz [9] also emphasised that insufficient knowledge and cultural beliefs about Epilepsy contribute to misconceptions.…”

“…Poor education can lead to poor health, unemployment, poor health-seeking behaviour, depression, exploitation, etc. [3,7,8]. Poor education regarding Epilepsy impacts the lives of PLWE, parents and caregivers to PLWE and community members.…”

Perceptions of teachers regarding the inclusion of epilepsy education in life skills for primary learners and teachers in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces (South Africa)

“…According to M. Syvertsen et al [9], most learners living with epilepsy dropped out of school because of being isolated and discriminated against due to misconceptions and stigma that surround epilepsy. Therefore, this means that knowledge regarding epilepsy is of great importance to decrease the misconceptions and myths that are associated with [10]. According to popular belief, people have a more favorable view toward a particular phenomenon the more knowledge they have about [11].…”