SOCIAL INFORMATION AND ATTITUDE TOWARD EPILLEPSY IN YEMEN (ADEN) Dr: Amina Hussein Harharah

SOCIAL INFORMATION AND ATTITUDE TOWARD EPILLEPSY IN YEMEN (ADEN) Dr: Amina Hussein Harharah Dr: Abdul latif Moh’Ali Al qubati Dr: Samira Ahmed Aboodi Pediatric Neurology Department. Alwehda teaching hospital. Ministry of health and population/ ADEN Social information & Attitude

Epilepsy is a common neurologic disorder that affect people of all ages. It is surrounded by a lot of mystery and prejudice. It is often an underappreciated health problem especially in Asia. In developing countries, 60% to 90% of people with epilepsy receive no treatment due to inadequacies in health care resources and delivery, and due to social stigma Social information & Attitude

Public attitude toward epilepsy was first studied on 1949 by Caveness. People with epilepsy are burdened by a multitude of social, psychological and economic consequences of stigmatization which leads to poor quality of life . Social information & Attitude

Stigma is precisely described by Boer as follows: children with epilepsy maybe banned from school, adults may be barred from marriage, and employment is often denied, even when seizures would not render the work unsuitable or unsafe. Social information & Attitude

Knowledge about epilepsy is the only solution for this problem Social information & Attitude

Knowledge is an important factor in reducing the degree of discrimination and negative attitudes toward epilepsy. Studies show that people with less knowledge about epilepsy, or without personal contact with someone with epilepsy, have poorer attitudes Social information & Attitude

The magnitude of the negative attitudes seems to beaggravated by the presence of misconception of epilepsy, which include the perception of epilepsy as a form of insanity being untreatable, contagious, hereditary, or a form of mental retardation. Social information & Attitude

In Yemen no published studies could be found, this survey done in Aden the economic capital of Yemen and is a well known that Aden citizen are civilized and the majority were educated Social information & Attitude

Methods and materials Social information & Attitude

The study was performed by using an open- closed prestructured questionnaire ( in Arabic language). From January- June 2012. Three hundred forty four were enrolled in this study. Random sample of people were selected as followed: Social information & Attitude

1- Attended at the outpatient department (254 person) of Alwehda teaching hospital and three private clinics of Ophthalmology, general pediatric ,gynecology and pediatric neurology. Social information & Attitude

2- Person who attend special training course ( 90 person) in early detection of the handicapped individual done by author for social worker, nurse , teacher in primary and secondary school . Social information & Attitude

The questionnaire used in our survey consist of three categories : 1- Demographic data of participant: Age, Sex, Education level and address, are the participant health worker or not . 2- Knowledge about epilepsy: include Nature of Epilepsy, Initial Step in treatment, Specialty selected for treatment, Participant knowledge about AED Social information & Attitude

3- Attitude toward epilepsy include: - Ability of epileptic patients to lead normal life. - Possibilities to establish a friendship with epileptic patients. - Participant acceptance for friendship between their child and epileptic child. - Possibility for cure in epilepsy Social information & Attitude

Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 16) Social information & Attitude

Analysis Social information & Attitude

70.7% Social information & Attitude

Age of participant Social information & Attitude

Social information & Attitude

80.5% Social information & Attitude

Possibilities to establish a friendship with epileptic patients Social information & Attitude

Participant acceptance for friendship between their child and epileptic child Social information & Attitude

Conclusion Participant has good knowledge and attitude toward epilepsy much better than what would be expected which could be related to the higher percentage of young and middle age group as well as those with higher education level Social information & Attitude

Recommendation Educational campaign is must be performed at all level in society in order to fight the misbelieve and stigma Social information & Attitude

Thank you Social information & Attitude

SOCIAL INFORMATION AND ATTITUDE TOWARD EPILLEPSY IN YEMEN (ADEN) Dr: Amina Hussein Harharah