Knowledge, Attitude, Practice with respect to Epilepsy in final year M.B.B.S. medical students

Abstract

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder affecting children as well as adults. It is associated with misconceptions, myths and social stigma. Patient, parents, family members, school teachers, medical professionals look at this disorder with different perspective. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) regarding epilepsy has been studied in various segments of population. Not many studies are available in medical students. Also, there are going to be regional variations with respect to KAP regarding epilepsy. Such study is not done in this region. Hence, this study was planned. Descriptive cross-sectional study was under taken in 102 final year M.B.B.S. students. Self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. 51% students answered correctly in knowledge domain, 69% answered in attitude domain and 58% answered correctly in practice domain. Only 21% students were exposed in management of epilepsy patient. 86-87% students expressed to include epilepsy topic should be included in undergraduate syllabus and need for clinical posting of final year students in emergency department. Final year medical students had better attitude towards epilepsy but had average knowledge and practicesabout epilepsy.