A survey of epilepsy knowledge, attitudes and practice in school-aged children in Bangkok, Thailand.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the level of knowledge about epilepsy, attitude towards PWE and practice in school-aged children in Bangkok, Thailand. Significant findings from this study will be employed to develop a relevant and effective tool to educate children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional survey study was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand, from August 2014 to December 2015. Study population included school-aged children between 9 and 14 years (4th to 8th grade). A structured age-appropriate, Thai culture-adjusted and simple 20-item questionnaire was used for this survey. The questionnaire comprised three domains which were eight items for knowledge (K), seven items for attitudes (A), and five items for practice (P). Descriptive and analytic statistics including Pearson's correlation were used to find correlation among KAP domains and age with KAP scores.

RESULTS: A total of 1040 students from 13 schools participated in our survey study. Mean age was 11.27 (SD 0.94). Some basic knowledge about epilepsy and practice of inserting objects into mouth of seizing persons account for a high magnitude of misunderstanding. Girls and older-aged children are associated with better positive attitudes towards epilepsy. It seems that educating children with knowledge of both epilepsy and first aid is necessary to improve positive attitudes among this age group.

CONCLUSIONS: Given the findings, our study suggests that a lack of knowledge in some aspects of KAP in children exists. Educational materials should contain basic knowledge about the simple pathogenesis of seizure, seizure types and seizure characteristics, and provide explanation as to why inserting objects into mouths of seizing persons is not recommended.