Public awareness, knowledge, and practice relating to epilepsy among adults in Konya

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the familiarity with, knowledge of, misunderstandings, and attitudes toward epilepsy among a group of Turkish adults living in Konya, an urban city in central Turkey. Methods: By using an established familiarity-knowledge-attitudes practice questionnaire, 500 randomly selected adult residents of Konya were interviewed face-to-face. Demographic and sociocultural factors that predicted negative attitudes were determined. Results: More than half of all participants (68.4%) reported hearing or reading about epilepsy, 44% knew someone with epilepsy, and 42.2% had witnessed a seizure. The primary source of knowledge was via relatives and friends; Negative attitudes were about marriage and inability to live alone with epilepsy (63.2% objected to marriage and 84% objected to living alone). A preconception of epilepsy being a dangerous and lifelong disease was the primary reason for negative attitudes. Predictors of negative attitudes were female gender, lower educational status, and living in a rural area. Conclusion: Negative attitudes regarding the marital status of patients with epilepsy still exist. These may stem from misconceptions about the cause and treatability of epilepsy. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.