Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Feb;10(1):111-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2006.08.012. Epub 2006 Oct 18.

Zambian health care workers' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices regarding epilepsy

Elwyn N Chomba  1 , Alan Haworth, Masharip Atadzhanov, Edward Mbewe, Gretchen L Birbeck
Affiliations

Zambian health care workers' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices regarding epilepsy

Elwyn N Chomba et al. Epilepsy Behav. 2007 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: Zambia suffers from a physician shortage, leaving the provision of care for those with epilepsy to nonphysician health care workers who may not be adequately trained for this task. These individuals are also important community opinion leaders. Our goal in this study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of these health care workers with respect to epilepsy.

Methods: Health care workers in urban and rural districts of Zambia completed a self-administered, 48-item questionnaire containing items addressing demographics, personal experience with epilepsy, social tolerance, willingness to provide care, epilepsy care knowledge, and estimates of others' attitudes. Analyses were conducted to assess characteristics associated with more epilepsy care knowledge and social tolerance.

Results: The response rate was 92% (n=276). Those who had received both didactic and bedside training (P=0.02) and more recent graduates (P=0.007) had greater knowledge. Greater knowledge was associated with more social tolerance (P=0.005), but having a family member with epilepsy was not (P=0.61). Health care workers were generally willing to provide care to this patient population, but approximately 25% would not allow their child to marry someone with epilepsy and 20% thought people with epilepsy should not marry or hold employment. Respondents reported that people with epilepsy are feared and/or rejected by both their families (75%) and their community (88.8%).

Conclusions: Knowledge gaps exist particularly in acute management and recognition of partial epilepsy. More recent graduates were more knowledgeable, suggesting that curriculum changes instituted in 2000 may be improving care. Health care workers expressed both personal and professional reservations about people with epilepsy marrying. In addition to improving diagnosis and treatment skills, educational programs must address underlying attitudes that may worsen existing stigmatizing trends.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. De Boer HM, Engel J, Jr, Prilipko LL. “Out of the shadows”: a partnership that brings progress. Epilepsia. 2005;46 Suppl. 1:61–62. - PubMed
    1. Diop AG, de Boer HM, Mandlhate C, Prilipko L, Meinardi H. The global campaign against epilepsy in Africa. Acta Trop. 2003;87(1):149–159. - PubMed
    1. Baskind R, Birbeck GL. Epilepsy-associated stigma in sub-Saharan Africa: the social landscape of a disease. Epilepsy Behav. 2005;7:68–73. - PubMed
    1. Hagopian A, Thompson MJ, Fordyce M, Johnson KE, Hart LG. The migration of physicians from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States of America: measures of the African brain drain. Hum Resource Health. 2004;2(1):17. - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Bank. Zambia—country brief. 2005. [cited 2006 9 March]. Available from: www.siteresources.worldbank.org.

Publication types