Parental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice toward their Epileptic Children, Baghdad, Iraq 2022

Sama Al-Kaisi; Faris Lami; Eman Ali

doi:10.32007/jfacmedbagdad.2112

Authors

Sama Al-Kaisi College of Medicine/University of Baghdad https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0694-5908
Faris Lami College of Medicine, University of Baghdad/ Family and Community Medicine Department https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3673-3818
Eman Ali Wood Brooke. Family practice, Cork, Ireland https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8849-6722

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32007/jfacmedbagdad.2112

Keywords:

Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Epilepsy, Children, Parents, KAP, Attitude; Epilepsy; Knowledge; Parents; Practice.

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. People who know less about epilepsy tend to have negative ideas about the disease. KAP of parents on epilepsy is crucial, especially to children below 13, as the child in this stage mostly depends on parents to get the answers to their concerns. Still, the over-protection from their families will create insecurity and reduce their self-esteem when they grow older.

Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) and measure their association with sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involved 107 parents with children who were diagnosed and received treatment for epilepsy. This study was conducted in the consultation clinics in the Children Welfare Teaching Hospital, Medical City in Baghdad-Iraq, from January through July 2022. A questionnaire was developed and filled out through direct interviews with the participants. The questionnaire was composed of five parts. The first part included primary sociodemographic data. The second part concerns the particular child’s basic characteristics and epilepsy history. The third part concerns the parents' knowledge about child epilepsy. The fourth part concerns parents' attitudes toward children with epilepsy. The fifth part is concerned with the practice of parents toward child epilepsy.

Results: Good knowledge, attitude, and practices were seen among 61 (57.0%), 70 (65.4%), and 90 (84.1%) parents, respectively. Good parents’ knowledge of epilepsy was significantly associated with higher education (college) and with fewer family Members (<5) (P<0.001 and P=0.0002), respectively. In addition, a good parents’ attitude towards epilepsy was significantly associated with higher education (college) (P=0.015).

Conclusion: About half of the parents have good knowledge, two third have a good attitude, and most have good practices towards epilepsy.

Received: April. 2023

Accepted: Jul. 2023

Published: Jan 2024

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Narges Karimi SAA. Knowledge and Attitude toward Epilepsy of Close Family Members of People with Epilepsy in North of Iran. Advances in Medicine. 2016. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8672853.

Osman MI, Bazie EA, Alamin AM. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Caregivers among Epileptic Pediatric Patients in Jaafer Ibn Auf Hospital-Khartoum-Sudan. J Pediatr Neonatal. 2021;3(2):1-4.use Vancouver style/done

Teferi J SZ. Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice related to epilepsy: a community-based study. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. 2015;2015.

Obeid T. Stigma. An aspect of epilepsy not to be ignored. Saudi medical journal. 2008 Apr 1;29(4):489-97.use Vancouver style/done

Helia Ghanean MN, Lars Jacobsson. Public awareness and attitudes towards epilepsy in Tehran, Iran. Global Health Action. 2013; 6(1). https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v6i0.21618.

Ahmed Hussein Subki AMM, Abdulaziz Khaled Alotaibi, Rakan S. Al-Harbi. The Impact of Pediatric Epilepsy on Children and Families: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study. Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health. 2018; 14. https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901814010323.

Hanneke M de Boer MM, Josemir W Sander. The global burden and stigma of epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior. 2008;12(4). doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.12.019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.12.019.

Asiri S Hassan A ASYM, Alqutub A Tariq A, Alqutub Hussamaldin Tariq A. Assessment of knowledge and Attitude and Practice of Parents towards Epilepsy among Children in Abha City. The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine. 2018;72(3). https://doi.org/10.21608/ejhm.2018.9116.

World Health Organization. Hepatitis B 2022 [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022 [cited 2023 Dec 17]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-b.

Frank-Briggs AI, Alikor E. Knowledge and attitudes of parents toward children with epilepsy. Annals of African Medicine. 2011;10(3).https://doi.org/10.4103/1596-3519.84706/

Rani A, Thomas PT. Parental knoweldge, attitude, and perception about epilepsy and sociocultural barriers to treatment. Journal of Epilepsy Research. 2019;9(1):65.https://doi.org/10.14581/jer.19007/

Shaju M, Vinayan KP, Abraham S. Knowledge, attitude and practice of parents regarding pediatric antiepileptic drug therapy. International Journal of Epilepsy. 2014;1(02):057-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijep.2014.11.002.

UNICEF. 2018 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS6) Briefing. 2018 [cited 2023 Jan 2]. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/iraq/reports/2018-multiple-indicator-cluster-survey-mics6-briefing.Use Vancouver style/done

Hu Y SY, Du Q, Ding Y, Shen C, Wang S, Ding M and Xu Y Gender and Socioeconomic Disparities in Global Burden of Epilepsy: An Analysis of Time Trends From 1990 to 2017. Front Neurol. 2021.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.643450.

Nirmeen Kishk HM, Sahar Ibrahim, Reham Shamloul, Aiman Al-Azazi, Nevin Shalaby. Sex differences among epileptic patients: a comparison of epilepsy and its impacts on demographic features, clinical characteristics, and management patterns in a tertiary care hospital in Egypt. The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery. 2019.

RK Sureka RS. Knowledge, attitude, and practices with regard to epilepsy in rural north-west India. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology.

;10(3). https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-2327.34795/

Najib Kissani MM, Safa Arib. Knowledge, attitude and traditional practices towards epilepsy among relatives of PWE (patients with epilepsy) in Marrakesh, Morocco. Epilepsy and Behavior. 2020.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107257.

Ghaieb Aljandeel MAsK, Hula Sharee. Awareness and attitude about epilepsy among Iraqi epileptic's families. Sensibilisation et attitude à l'égard de l'épilepsie parmi les familles épileptiques irakiennes. African and Middle East Epilepsy Journal. 2021.

Neyaz HA, Aboauf HA, Alhejaili ME, Alrehaili MN. Knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy in Saudi families. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences. 2017;12(1):89-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtumed.2016.06.007.

Sidig A, Ibrahim G, Hussein A, Rahman A, Babikir A, Yassien F, et al. A study of knowledge, attitude, practice towards epilepsy among relative of epileptic patients in Khartoum State. Sudanese journal of public health. 2009;4(4):393-8.

Amira Masria SA, Aisha Khasawneh, Abdelkarim AL Qudaha, Omar Nafid, Miral Al Momanie, Faisal Khatib. Parental knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy -A study from Jordan. Seizure European Journal of Epilepsy. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seizure.2017.11.006.

Pellock JM. Understanding co-morbidities affecting children with epilepsy. Neurology. 2004.

https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.62.5_suppl_2.S17/

Al-Dossari KK, Al-Ghamdi S, Al-Zahrani J, Abdulmajeed I, Alotaibi M, Almutairi H, et al. Public knowledge awareness and attitudes toward epilepsy in Al-Kharj Governorate Saudi Arabia. Journal of family medicine and primary care. 2018;7(1):184. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_281_17.

Dessalegen HM, Gedlu E, Moges A. Knowledge, attitude and practices of parents and guardians of children with epilepsy at pediatric neurology clinic in a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Medical Journal. 2021;59(03).

Al.Zubaidi MA, Alsudairy NM, Alzubaidi BA, Alsadi K, Abulela AA, AlQurashi SM. Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude and Practice of Parents towards Epilepsy among Children in Jeddah City. The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine. 2017;69:2685-9. https://doi.org/10.12816/0042249/

Hassan A AS, Yahya M AS, Tariq A AA, Hussamaldin Tariq A A. Assessment of knowledge and Attitude and Practice of Parents towards Epilepsy among Children in Abha City. The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine. 2018;72(3):4060-3. doi: 10.21608/ejhm.2018.9116. https://doi.org/10.21608/ejhm.2018.9116.

Melissa A. Elafros CS-S, Masharip Atadzhanov, Alan Haworth, Elwyn Chomba, Gretchen L. Birbeck. Stigma and psychiatric morbidity among mothers of children with epilepsy in Zambia. International Health. 2013. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/iht028.

Kinkar A, Alqarni D, Alghamdi A, Wali S, Alghamdi N, Saloom S, et al. Parental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward their epileptic children at King Abdulaziz University Hospital: cross-sectional study. Interactive Journal of Medical Research. 2020;9(1):e12697. https://doi.org/10.2196/12697.

Fehintola FO, Olowookere SA, Adegbenro CA, Afolabi TO, Oladapo V, Oladimeji AO, et al. Knowledge of and attitude towards epilepsy among women in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2019;14(1):31-44. https://doi.org/10.18502/sjms.v14i1.4379.

Gangadhar K. A study to assess knowledge and attitude among parents of epileptic children regarding epilepsy with a view to develop an information guide sheet at selected hospitals, Bangalore: RGUHS; 2007.

AlZweihary A, Alkhalifah RS, Alrayes RM, Alshutily AS, Alotaibi GA. Knowledge, attitude, and practices of parents of children with febrile convulsion in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Medicine in Developing Countries. 2021. https://doi.org/10.24911/IJMDC.51-1606835419