Epilepsy Behav. 2021 Dec 15;126:108480. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108480. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
AIM: We aimed to evaluate the knowledge levels and attitudes of the students of the Department of Health Management about epilepsy.
METHOD: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with the voluntary participation of 238 health management department students in their first and third years of study who were registered at the Faculty of Health Sciences summer school exam. We collected the data through a research questionnaire form and the Epilepsy Knowledge and Attitude Scales.
RESULTS: Girls accounted for 66.6% (n = 157) all participants, 53.4% of them were 1st year (n = 127), whereas 46.6% (n = 111) were third-year students. Their mean age was 19.97 ± 1.46 years. Among these participants, 52.9% grew in the province (n = 126), 20.6% were smoking, 5% had epilepsy, and 36.6% had relatives with epilepsy. The mean epilepsy knowledge scale score was 5.64 ± 4.41 and the mean epilepsy attitude scale score was 52.55 ± 9.98. The third-year students’ epilepsy knowledge score was significantly higher than their first-year counter parts (p < 0.001). We found no statistically significant difference between the first and third-year participants in attitude scores (p = 0.907). A moderate positive correlation was found between the students’ knowledge level scores about epilepsy and their total attitude scores (r = 0.405, p < 0.001). The female students had a more positive attitude toward epilepsy and higher scores on the epilepsy knowledge scale than their male counterparts (p = 0.001, p = 0.005, respectively). Students who knew someone with epilepsy had higher epilepsy knowledge and attitude scale scores than those who did not (p = 0.001, p = 0.005 respectively).
CONCLUSION: The epilepsy knowledge levels and attitude scale scores of health management students were found to be low. Third-year students were found to have higher knowledge levels than first-year students but there was no statistically significant difference between their attitude scores. More education opportunities should be provided for students of the Department of Health Management about this common chronic disease.
PMID:34922330 | DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108480
