Attitudes Towards Epilepsy Patients and Opinion on Stigma for Epilepsy Among University Students

Abstract

Aim: In this study, the attitudes of health students towards epilepsy patients and their views on stigmatization were evaluated. The relationship between different academic variables and sociodemographic characteristics, and attitude scores and stigma scores were investigated. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 15 and June 15, 2021. The population of the research consisted of a total of 674 students studying at the Vocational School of Health Services and the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Student Information Form, which was created by using the literature, as well as the Public Attitudes towards Epilepsy (PATE) and the Epilepsy Stigma Scale were used as data collection tools. Results: While 79.6% of the students stated that epilepsy is a neurological disease, 59.2% of them stated that epilepsy is caused by head trauma, 40.5% of them learned about epilepsy from school, 47.8% of them stated that they had knowledge about the intervention of epileptic seizures. It was determined that the students' PATE Scale sub-dimension mean scores (general area: 10.00±3.67, personal area 15.39±2.01) and ESS mean scores (32.49±7.96) were low, their attitudes towards epilepsy were positive and they did not stigmatize. It was determined that as the students' positive attitude scores towards epilepsy increased, their stigma scores decreased(p<0.000). Conclusion: The most reliable source for patients to obtain information about epilepsy is health personnel. For this reason, it is recommended to plan changes and arrangements in the course curricula to increase the knowledge level of students studying in the field of health.

Keywords

• epilepsy
• attitude
• stigma
• student

ÜNİVERSİTE ÖĞRENCİLERİ ARASINDA EPİLEPSİ HASTALARINA YÖNELİK TUTUMLAR VE DAMGALAMAYA YÖNELİK GÖRÜŞLER

Abstract

Amaç: Bu araştırmada, sağlık alanında öğrenim gören öğrencilerin epilepsi hastalarına yönelik tutumları ve damgalamaya yönelik görüşleri değerlendirildi. Farklı akademik değişkenler ve sosyo-demografik özellikler ile tutum puanları ve damgalama puanları arasındaki ilişki araştırıldı. Yöntem: Kesitsel tipteki bu araştırma 15 Mart-15 Haziran 2021 tarihleri arasında yapılmıştır. Araştırma evrenini Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksekokulu ve Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi’nde öğrenim gören toplam 674 öğrenci oluşturmuştur. Veri toplama aracı olarak literatürden yararlanılarak oluşturulan Öğrenci Bilgi Formu ile Epilepsiye Yönelik Toplumun Tutum Ölçeği (PATE) ve Epilepsi Damgalama Ölçeği (ESS) kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Öğrencilerin; %79.6’sı epilepsinin nörolojik bir hastalık olduğunu, %59.2’si epilepsiye kafa travmalarının sebep olduğunu, % 40.5’i epilepsi konusunda bilgileri okuldan öğrendiğini, %47.8’i epilepsi nöbetine müdahale konusunda bilgisinin olduğunu ifade etmiştir. Öğrencilerin PATE Ölçeği alt boyut puan ortalamaları (genel alan:10.00±3.67, kişisel alan 15.39±2.01) ile ESS puan ortalamalarının (32.49±7.96) düşük olduğu, epilepsiye yönelik tutumlarının olumlu olduğu ve damgalamadıkları belirlenmiştir. Öğrencilerin epilepsiye yönelik olumlu tutum puanları arttıkça damgalama puanlarının azaldığı görülmüştür (p<0.000). Sonuç: Hastaların epilepsi konusunda bilgi alacağı en güvenilir kaynak sağlık personelidir. Bu nedenle sağlık alanında öğrenim gören öğrencilerin bilgi düzeylerinin artırılmasına yönelik ders müfredatlarında değişiklik ve düzenlemelerin planlanması önerilmektedir.

Keywords

• epilepsi
• tutum
• damgalama
• öğrenci

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