Epilepsy stigma among medical students of university of Khartoum [post]

Baraa Adel Osman Taha, Khabab Abbasher Hussien Mohamed Ahmed, Mohammed Eltahier Abdalla Omer, Osman Kamal Osman Elmahi
2021 unpublished
Background Epilepsy is defined as having two or more unprovoked seizures, which result from excessive neuronal firing in the brain leading to sudden abnormal movements of the body. Epilepsy, which was known previously as the sacred disease, is still accompanied with stigma, myths, misconceptions that renewed with each age. Our main aim is to Assess epilepsy stigma among medical students, university of Khartoum. Methodology : A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 331 medical
more » ... ts in University of Khartoum, between January to April 2021. Socio-demographic data of patients were recorded. Knowledge, behavior and reaction of participants towards patients during seizures were assessed. Results 94% of participants heard about epilepsy. Only 24 respondents weren't familiar with epilepsy. Clinical students' knowledge was deeper than preclinical students. Belief in supernatural forces as a cause of epilepsy, magic spells and invasion by demons showed no statistically significant difference between clinical and preclinical students. Clinical students' behavior towards handling seizures correctly more than preclinical students. The majority of responses according relationships with people with epilepsy were positive. Conclusion & Recommendations : Medical students of University of Khartoum have good knowledge about epilepsy, as well as good attitude, behavior and relationships with people with epilepsy. More research is obviously required to better understand the roots of epilepsy stigma. Also more studies are needed to show stigma from patient perspective.
doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-708451/v1 fatcat:m22cj5akcvdf3agaleapymd2sa