09Apr 2020

PUBLIC AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD EPILEPSY IN THE HAIL REGION, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

  • College of Medicine, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia.
  • Department of Histopathology and Cytology, FMLS, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
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Introduction:Epilepsy is a chronic non-communicable disease that affects the brain. There are around 50 million patients with epilepsy worldwide. However, there are a lot of studies haveshown a misconception regarding epilepsy among different communities. This study was conducted in the Hail region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to measure the level of awareness, knowledge, and behaviors toward epilepsy. Methods:A cross-sectional study including a questionnaire formed of 14 validated questions, distributed to the people residing inthe Hail region, from September 17 to September 26, 2019. Results:The Questionnaire applied to 384 participants and most of them were less than or equal25 years old )42.4%). Ninety-four present of 384 respondents had heard or read about epilepsy and there were only12% would prevent their children from socializing with a child with epilepsy.While most of the participants (78.4%) agreed that patient with epilepsy has a right to not bebarred from a job. Sixty-seven percent of participants cited mental disorder as the most common cause of epilepsy followed by brain disorders and 96.4% of participants chose convulsant and shaking as a symptom of epilepsy followed by loss of consciousness. Conclusion:The level of awareness and attitudes toward epilepsy inthe Hail region were quite good, but society still needs to raise the level of knowledge and correct misconceptions.

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[Abdulaziz Mohammed Alenezi, Saud Khalid Alshammari, Lama Zaid Al-Hemshy, Khalid Melih Alshammari, Salem Fayez Alshaghdali, Abdullah Hamad Alanazi, Hassan Abdulrazaq Alshammari, Abdulaziz Muflih Alghaithi and Hussain Gadelkarim Ahmed (2020); PUBLIC AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD EPILEPSY IN THE HAIL REGION, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA Int. J. of Adv. Res. 8 (Apr). 974-980] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com

Abdulaziz Mohammed Alenezi
College of Medicine, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia.

DOI:

Article DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/10867      
DOI URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/10867

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