Knowledge, attitude and practices of schoolteachers toward epilepsy and students with epilepsy

S.S. Habib, J. Alorainy, M. Abaalkhail, N. Albuhayjan, A. Alshoumar, M. Alhumud

Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. mashalbander@gmail.com

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• Medical Education
• Neurology

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to estimate and evaluate teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward students with epilepsy and to determine the association between selected demographic factors.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was approved by the ethical committee of King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted at the department of physiology, King Saud University, from October 2020 until October 2021. The data was collected through anonymous online self-administered 44-item questionnaires. The sampling technique used was Snowball sampling from ten randomly selected schools in Riyadh.

RESULTS: The total sample size was 456 participants. The mean age of the respondents was 41.5 ± 8.52, and a male to female ratio of 1.4:1. The mean years of experience of the respondents is 16.14 ± 8.85. Almost all teachers knew that epilepsy is a neurological disorder (97.8%). However, females were more likely to know the cause of epilepsy (p=0.003). The majority of public-school teachers (80.2%) thought that epileptic students have normal intelligence (p=0.004). A considerable proportion of public-school teachers (82.8%) do not mind having a student with epilepsy in their classes (p=0.012). The vast majority of schoolteachers (95.4%) have not had any training on how to deal with an epileptic student during a seizure.

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that schoolteachers have very good knowledge about epilepsy but poor practice towards it. Well-directed training programs are needed to qualify teachers in providing first aid to epileptic students during seizures.

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