Abstract: Epilepsy is a chronic disorder of the brain that affects people worldwide and most common pediatric neurological disorder. The incidence of seizures is highest, 5 % of children experience convulsion during the first 5 years of life, with decreasing frequency in older age. Parent’s attitude and practice towards children with epilepsy are greatly influenced by the degree of their knowledge. Seizure in childhood may interfere with familial life, sleep and social life of parents, imposing tremendous stress and anxiety of parents. AIM: To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice of caregivers in children with epilepsy towards the health condition. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional observational study conducted for a period of 6 months in a tertiary care hospital setting. The caregivers of the patients were briefed about the study and consent was obtained to be recruited in the study. A structured 31-item questionnaire was designed to examine knowledge, attitudes and practice towards children with epilepsy. Results: A total of 86 caregivers were enrolled in the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, out of which 52% were female and 48% were male. The mean age of our study subjects was found to be 9.30 ± 4.63yrs. The factors like family history, birth order, type of seizure were assessed in our study. Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice were done using self-designed questionnaire. On an average their quantum regarding the disease was found to be as knowledge 54%, attitude 69%, practice 76%. CONCLUSION: Most of the caregivers are unaware of the exact risks associated with epilepsy. Even though considerable respondents had satisfactory knowledge, attitude and practice regarding epilepsy, many of them don’t seek appropriate preventive or corrective measures due to various factors.
Keywords: Parent; Knowledge; Attitude; Practice; Child; Pediatric; Epilpesy.
Title: ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF CAREGIVERS IN CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY
Author: Harsha Vardhan Reddy A, Tezan Karki, Deepti, Dr. Sambhu Ramesh, Dr. Suhas Reddy C
International Journal of Healthcare Sciences
ISSN 2348-5728 (Online)
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