Perception of stigma and associated factors in people with epilepsy at Amanuel Specialized Mental Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE: Stigma is a major problem for people living with epilepsy. Perceived stigma may be more prevalent than enacted stigma and causes excessive worry for the individual even if it does not arise from a social interaction. Therefore, we assessed perceived stigma and associated factors among people with epilepsy.

METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May, 2013, among 423 samples of people with epilepsy.

RESULTS: One hundred sixty-nine (40.7%) of the respondents perceived as they were stigmatised by other people with 19.5% highly stigmatised by their illness. Most of the respondents (54.9%) had one or more seizure attacks per month, 61.9% were under monotherapy and 52.5% had no side effects of antiepileptic drugs. Those respondents who were from rural, low income, divorced/widowed, with frequent seizure attack and side effects of antiepileptic drugs were more likely to felt stigmatised by other people due to their illness.

CONCLUSIONS: Perceived stigma was found to be a common problem among people living with epilepsy. Therefore, the finding suggests that the need of creating awareness and addressing incorrect conceptions attached to epilepsy.