Knowledge and Attitudes towards Epilepsy of Croatian General Student Population and Biomedical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Epilepsy causes a significant burden to patients as it is linked with various somatic and psychiatric comorbidities, social issues, impaired quality of life, and increased mortality. Improving the population’s knowledge and attitudes about epilepsy patients could be beneficial as it could raise social awareness and lead to more social support for patients. For those reasons, a survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted to determine Croatian students’ knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy. A previously developed survey questionnaire was adapted for the Croatian setting and distributed online to the students (n = 544). Croatian students generally had positive attitudes towards people with epilepsy (median score 28.0, interquartile range 29.0–26.0, with the minimum possible score being 0.0 and the maximum 30.0), with the female gender (B (male) = 0.664 (95% CI −1.158, −0.170), p = 0.009), biomedical education (B (other) = −0.442, (95% CI −0.823, −0.061), p = 0.023), and personal experience in the form of witnessing the seizure (B = 0.519 (95% CI 0,098, 0.940), p = 0.016) as predictors of more favorable attitudes. Overall knowledge was satisfactory concerning most items, with the exception of first aid measures and risk factors. Educational intervention targeting bio-medical students and other students who might, in their future professional lives, be responsible for people suffering from epilepsy is needed to improve the gaps in their knowledge.