Evaluation of midwifery students’ health fatalism, knowledge, and attitudes toward patients with epilepsy in Eastern Turkey

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between midwifery students’ health fatalism, epilepsy knowledge, attitudes, and some sociodemographic variables. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 270 midwifery department students who were studying at a state university and who agreed to participate in the study in eastern Turkey during the 2021–2022 academic year. The data were collected using a Sociodemographic Information Form, the Health Fatalism Scale (HFS), the Epilepsy Knowledge Scale (EKS), and the Epilepsy Attitude Scale (EAS). Results: The midwifery students had total mean scores of 49.69±13.25, 7.71±3.69, and 54,87±8.13 for the HFS, EKS, and EAS, respectively. It was found that those who had social contact with epilepsy patients had significantly higher EKS and EAS scores, but no correlation with HFS. Conclusion: The study of midwifery students in Eastern Turkey shows that close contact with epilepsy patients is associated with better knowledge of and attitude to epilepsy, although the high health fatalism remains.