title: Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about epilepsy and their predictors among university students in Jordan.
abstract: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the knowledge about epilepsy and the attitudes toward people with epilepsy (PWE) and their predictors among university students in Jordan. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed in three of the largest public universities in Jordan, and a total of 500 questionnaires were collected from each university. The number of students who reported that they had heard or read about epilepsy was 1165 (77.6%), and their data were analyzed. A significant proportion of students thought that epilepsy could be caused by the evil spirit (31.5%) and the evil eye (28.1%) or that it could be a punishment from God (25.9%). Epilepsy's most commonly reported treatment methods were the Holy Quran (71.4%), medications (71.3%), and herbs (29.3%). The most common negative attitudes toward PWE were that the students would refuse to marry someone with epilepsy (50.5%) and that children with epilepsy must join schools for persons with disabilities (44.4%). Male students, students of humanities, and students with a low socioeconomic status tended to have more negative attitudes toward PWE. In conclusion, many students have misconceptions about the causes, treatment, and nature of epilepsy, and students have moderate negative attitudes toward PWE. Universities should have health promotion programs to increase awareness of their students about major public health problems such as epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan. Electronic address: jameel.hijazeen@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Jameel Khaleel
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hijazeen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan.
authors.forename: Munir Ahmad
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Abu-Helalah
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
authors.forename: Hussam Ahmad
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Alshraideh
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan.
authors.forename: Omar Salameh
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Alrawashdeh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan.
authors.forename: Fadi Nather
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Hawa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan.
authors.forename: Tariq Asem
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Dalbah
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan.
authors.forename: Fadi Walid
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Abdallah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arab; Attitudes; Epilepsy; Knowledge; Students; University