Secondary school students' knowledge, attitude, and practices towards epilepsy in Nsukka City, Enugu State Chigozie Gloria Anene-Okeke ⁎, Chibueze Anosike, Deborah Oyine Aluh, Lovelyn Ezinwanne Odo Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria abstract article info Article history: Received 28 April 2020 Revised 23 July 2020 Accepted 17 August 2020 Available online 01 October 2020 Background: Epilepsy is the most common noninfectious neurologic disease in Nigeria and other developing African countries. Epilepsy remains a stigmatized disease. The stigma stems from the traditional African belief, which views epilepsy as a spiritual disease. A lack of information and illiteracy has been blamed as the cause of the stigmatization. Aims: The aim of the present study was to assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitude towards epilepsy among secondary school students in Nsukka. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey using a validated, self-administered questionnaire comprising four sections: demographic characteristics, awareness, knowledge, and attitude towards people living with epilepsy (PLWE). Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23. Descriptive analysis (frequencies, percentage, mean, and standard deviations) were used to summarize the data. The relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and knowledge score and attitude score was performed using chi-square analysis. Statistical significance was set as a p-value b 0.05. Results: The majority of the students (87.4%) had heard of epilepsy as a disease. The most common source of information was the electronic media (21.5%). More than half (61.6%) had witnessed a convulsion in the past, and 36.9% knew someone with epilepsy. The majority of the students (66.7%) believed that epilepsy is caused by witchcraft. Jerking (77.3%) and loss of consciousness (82.4%) were identified as the commonest manifestation of epilepsy. Regarding treatment management of epilepsy, 81.3% of the students believe the use of orthodox medicine, while 85.4% would insert a spoon in the mouth when a seizure occurs as part of first-aid treatment. Nearly half of the students had good knowledge (48.1%) of epilepsy and a positive attitude (46.5%) towards the disease. The students' knowledge was associated with their school (X 2 = 23.21, p = 0.001). However, students' attitude towards epilepsy was associated with their schools (X 2 = 5.93, p = 0.015) and their guardians' level of education (X 2 = 14.65, p = 0.012). Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest poor knowledge and attitude towards epilepsy among secondary school students in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Epilepsy Secondary school students Knowledge Attitude Nsukka Nigeria 1. Introduction Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder characterized by recurrent derangement of the nervous system due to sudden excessive disorderly discharge of the cerebral neurons that results in an almost instantaneous disturbance of sensation and loss of consciousness [1]. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological problems of childhood [2,3]. Epilepsy currently affects 50 million people worldwide, of which 80% live in developing countries [4–6]. The prevalence of epilepsy in Nigeria ranges from 5.3 to 37/10,000 population [7–10]. The social stigma and discrimination often cause more suffering for people with epilepsy than the seizures itself [11]. Cultural and religious beliefs are essential issues in Nigeria, which may influence the type of care and treatment for people living with epilepsy (PLWE) [12,13]. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards PLWE among students in particular and the population in general. Accurate knowledge of epilepsy would help dispel the myths and misconceptions associated with the disease [11]. Educating school students about the reality of epilepsy is censorious in alleviating the stigma faced by school students with epilepsy, and children are the future workforce of the country [11]. Many studies in Nigeria examine adult knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy [1,14–20], whereas only a few studies focused on school children in Nigeria [12,21,22]. Children and adolescents with epilepsy suffer considerable social stigmatization [23]. A study showed that children with epilepsy performed poorly in English language and Mathematics than their counterparts without epilepsy. A recent study in Enugu City showed Epilepsy & Behavior 112 (2020) 107441 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: chigozie.anene-okeke@unn.edu.ng (C.G. Anene-Okeke). YEBEH-107441; No of Pages 5 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107441 1525-5050/© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Epilepsy & Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yebeh Please cite this article as: C.G. Anene-Okeke, C. Anosike, D.O. Aluh, et al., Secondary school students' knowledge, attitude, and practices towards epilepsy in Nsukka City, Enugu..., Epilepsy & Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107441