Disease awareness and dietary habits of patients with epilepsy in western China: a cross-sectional study

Acta Epileptologica

Xiaoting Hao¹  Bo Yan¹  Dong Zhou¹  Nanya Hao¹  Qi Zhang²  Enzhi Li³  Xiao Yang⁴  Wenjing Li⁵ 

[1] Department of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China;Department of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China;Department of Clinical Research Management, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, China;Department of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China;West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, China;West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, China;West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, China;Outpatient Department, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 610000, Chengdu, China;

关键词: Epilepsy;    Awareness;    Antiepileptic drug;    Dietary habit;    Epilepsy education;    Survey;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s42494-021-00065-x

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe optimal management of epilepsy includes engaging patients through education on knowledge of the disease, its treatment and diet control.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional survey-based cohort study, aimed to investigate the awareness of epilepsy in Chinese patients and to understand their dietary habits. Participants were consecutively enrolled from epileptic patients treated in a single epilepsy center from October 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020. A self-reported questionnaire (Cronbach’s α = 0.758) consisting of 3 parts was sent to 407 patients with epilepsy. The questionnaire included items on demographic information, epilepsy features, awareness of epilepsy treatment and dietary habits.ResultsAbout half of the patients (53.8%, 219/407) thought epilepsy was curable and only 80% knew that the first choice of treatment is medication. While 58.6% of the patients with low educational level preferred the use of antiepileptic drugs (p = 0.014), 52.7% believed that the medication should not be stopped immediately after seizure control (p = 0.026), especially after surgery (40.5%, p = 0.011). Patients with lower household monthly incomes had less awareness of the use of antiepileptic drugs than patients with higher incomes: only 39.2 and 49.8% of patients with lower incomes thought that the drugs could be stopped after epilepsy surgery or seizure control, respectively, compared to 51.6 and 66.1% with higher incomes. Alcohol (86.2%), caffeine (56.8%) and strong tea (49.1%) were top three foods considered by the patients to be avoided to prevent seizures. Approximately 30.2% of patients identified at least one food that made them susceptible to seizures.ConclusionsPatient education on epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs and diet for management of seizures should be provided especially to patients with less education, lower income or inaccurate beliefs of epilepsy in Western China.

【 授权许可】

CC BY