Abstract

Background: Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders characterized by epileptic seizures. It affects individuals of all ages and very common in Saudi Arabia with a prevalence of 6.54 per 1000. This study was aimed to show general knowledge, public awareness and attitude towards epileptic patients in Hail city, Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: A cross-sectional community-based study was carried out in Hail city, Saudi Arabia from 1 January to 31 May 2018. A questionnaire including questions concerning the neurological disorder was used to collect data from 1007 samples of random residents of Hail city, Saudi Arabia. Distribution included a hand-to-hand method and online distribution of the questionnaire through the web.
Results: More than half (55.1%) of the respondents were females. There was a high positive response rate of 83.7% for having previous information about epilepsy, and 42.6% responded that they know the cause of epilepsy and 4.6% knew someone with epilepsy. About quarter (24.4%) agreed that epilepsy is psychiatric disease, 10.2% of the participants thought that epilepsy is a contagious disease, 24.4% thought that it's psychiatric disease, 19.1% thought that epilepsy have the same manifestations in all cases, 56.5% thought it's a treatable disease, 35.1% thought that all cases need antiepileptic drug.
Conclusion: Our results showed that epilepsy is a well-known disorder in Hail city, Saudi Arabia. There was a high positive response rate of 83.7% for having previous information about epilepsy, and 42.6% responded that they know the cause of epilepsy but only quarter (24.4%) agreed that epilepsy is a psychiatric disease. Hence, educational awareness programs and campaigns are needed for improving the public awareness about epilepsy in Hail city, Saudi Arabia.

Key words: Epilepsy, general knowledge, public awareness, attitude towards epileptic patients, Hail City, Saudi Arabia