title: A five-year follow-up study of the general public awareness and perception of epilepsy in Croatia.
abstract: Public reception of epilepsy in Croatia was re-assessed in 2009, 5 years after an initial survey, by interviewing 1000 randomly selected adults. Ninety-two percent (-5.0%) of the respondents had heard about epilepsy, 47% (-7.9%) knew someone with epilepsy, and 38.6% (-6.0%) had witnessed a seizure. Interviewees were quite ready to accept a person with epilepsy. Almost 8% (+1.1%) would object if their child played with a child with epilepsy, and 77.8% (+1.8%) believed that a child with epilepsy could succeed as well as a child without epilepsy. Although 45.9% (-6.6%) would approach a person having a seizure and help, 36.1% (+3.0%) would also call "911." Citizens of Croatia re-declared a high tolerance toward people with epilepsy and positive attitude toward children with epilepsy. Experiential factors remained strong predictors of more positive attitudes. A more prominent role of patients and implementation of social marketing in addressing a large persisting degree of prejudice and stigmatization worldwide are warranted.
authors.affiliation: The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. dbagic@ffzg.hr
authors.forename: Dragan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bagić
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mastilica
authors.forename: Anto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bagić
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001364:Awareness; D017523:Croatia; D004827:Epilepsy; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011287:Prejudice; D011639:Public Opinion; D012938:Social Perception; D057545:Social Stigma; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires