Abstract:
Introduction: Children with epilepsy are often challenged with stigmatization and discrimination, asides the
clinical effects of the disorder. This has been attributed to, among other things, poor knowledge, attitude and
perception of teachers and co-learners about the disorder.
Aim:The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and perception of epilepsy among members of school
communities in Jos and determine how it relates with discrimination of children with epilepsy.
Methodology: Adescriptive cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaire among 437 secondary
school teachers and students in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. The 59-item scale comprised 36 knowledge items, 7
attitude items and 16 perception items. Chi-square and Odds ratio were used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level
of significance.
Result: Only about one third had good knowledge of epilepsy, (32.5% of study population). Overall, the
attitude and perception of the respondents about epilepsy were good, but there were some discriminatory items
exhibited. Those who had poor knowledge, attitude and perception had over three times the odds of
discriminating against children with epilepsy. (OR 3.7, 95% CI=1.76-7.83). Majority, (88.3%) indicated
interest in knowing more about how to respond to a child with epilepsy.
Conclusion: There is a need to educate members of the school about epilepsy and train them on first aid care to
give a child who convulses in school. There is also need to advocate for legislation against
stigmatization and discrimination of children with epilepsy.
