KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AMONG SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARDS SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH EPILEPSY IN HAIL REGION, KSA

Background: The knowledge and attitude of school teachers can affect significantly the academic achievement, social development and the quality of life of epileptic students. Objective: To assess the knowledge and attitude of school teachers towards students with epilepsy in Hail, KSA. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a pretested, self-administered, 5-item questionnaire to evaluate the basic knowledge and attitude of Elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools? teachers as regards epilepsy. Schools were chosen at random and included private and public schools for male and female students. Results: The study included 342 teachers. 98.8% of the respondents heard about the disease, with no significant association with age (p = 0.205) or gender (p = 0.593). The common reported causes for epilepsy included mental disease (62.6%), spiritual possession (11.1%), electric charges in the brain (9.9%) and disturbed nerves (5.3%). 71.3% of respondents were willing to provide first aid during fits and objected to prevent epileptic students from studying (97.7%). Age was significantly associated with knowledge about causes of epilepsy (p = 0.008) and readiness to provide first aid (p = 0.012). Gender was not significantly associated with neither knowledge nor attitude of the respondents. Conclusion: Knowledge of teachers about causes of epilepsy was not adequate. Also, most of them would treat epileptic students differently from their peers. Educational programs should be provided to school teachers to correct wrong beliefs about epilepsy and to train them on first aid measures during epileptic fits.