Knowledge, attitudes and practice with respect to epilepsy among secondary school students in the Kumbo West Health District - North West Region- Cameroon.
BACKGROUND
The main goal of this study was to obtain baseline data on awareness and attitudes and practices with respect to epilepsy among secondary school students.


METHODS
We interviewed a total of 659 students from three randomly selected secondary schools in the Kumbo West Health District, using a 12-item questionnaire in English.


RESULTS
About 94.7% had heard about epilepsy, 25.8% had read on the subject, 55.2% knew someone with epilepsy and 77.7% had witnessed a seizure. While 37.9% of students would object to association with people with epilepsy (PWE), 47.8% would object to marriage with PWE. About 77.2% would offer equal employment to PWE although 72.7% believed there were jobs not suitable for PWE. Up to 58% of our sample thought epilepsy is contagious and about 62.2% of them declared that epilepsy is curable. Respectively 65%, 9%, and 30% would recommend a medical doctor, a traditional healer and God's help for treatment of epilepsy. Independent determinants of attitudes were found to be: the belief that epilepsy is a form of insanity or is contagious, having witnessed a seizure, being female, being a Christian and having a higher level of education.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a high level of awareness on epilepsy and the negative attitudes observed among these students were better than those reported in the same community. The determinants of negative attitudes were found to be diversified, confirming our hypothesis of variation, and our data further suggest that the interplay between these factors may be more complex than generally thought. This requires further qualitative study.
Njamnshi
Alfred K
AK
Neurology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. aknjamnshi@yahoo.co.uk
Tabah
Earnest N
EN
Bissek
Anne-Cécile Zoung-Kanyi
AC
Yepnjio
Faustin N
FN
Kuate
Callixte
C
Angwafor
Samuel A
SA
Dema
Fidèle
F
Fonsah
Julius Y
JY
Wirngo
Mohamadu Suiru
MS
Acho
Alphonse
A
Obama
Marie-Thérèse
MT
Angwafo
Fru F
FF
Muna
Walinjom F T
WF
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001364:Awareness; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult