Public knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy in Jordan

Abstract

The overall knowledge and attitudes of Jordanians towards epilepsy is relatively comparable with the results from Asian countries but more negative when compared with reports from the Western countries. Consequently, well-organized educational campaigns are needed to improve public perception about epilepsy.

Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about epilepsy and their predictors among university students in Jordan

“…The belief in the evil spirit and the belief in the evil eye were both statistically significantly higher among students of humanities and students with a low SEI. Our results are consistent with previous studies in which components of the SEI (education, income, or employment status) predicted knowledge about epilepsy and attitudes toward PWE [9,11,18,19]. Previous studies also showed differences in knowledge and health habits between students of humanities and those of scientific faculties [35].…”

“…Interestingly, this percentage is less than that reported in the study conducted among the Jordanian public (about 88%) [11]. There was, however, a selection bias in that study as more than one-third of the participants (39%) had a health-care-related occupation.…”

“…In Jordan, results of a survey among the general population showed that their knowledge about and attitudes toward epilepsy are similar to those from Asian countries. On the other hand, their attitudes were more negative when compared with results from western countries [11].…”

“…It might not be a surprising finding that some people from the general population associate epilepsy with mental illness [9,11,14], but it is surprising that 27.5% of university students in Jordan considered epilepsy as a form of madness. This is much higher than that reported by university students in Kuwait (10.5%) [19].…”

“…As a result, several studies were conducted to measure the knowledge and conceptions of the public about epilepsy and their attitudes toward PWE [8][9][10][11]. A recent study reviewed the published research on the psychosocial aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries in the past three decades and concluded that negative attitudes and misconceptions toward PWE are still widespread in these countries [8].…”