Epilepsy knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and associated factors among primary, post-primary, and secondary school teachers in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Abstract

SUMMARY Background. Epilepsy is one of the most common pediatric neurological disorders. The knowledge and attitude of teachers toward epileptic students can be crucial. Patients and methods. This cross-sectional study was carried on schoolteachers in the city of Ouagadougou during the period from March 02 to July 20, 2020. The schools were chosen randomly among a list of recognized public or private establishments. Results. Two hundred and twenty teachers were included in the study. Among them, 35.45% were post-primary teachers. Most of them had already heard of epilepsy (98.6%). For the majority of school teachers, epilepsy was not a contagious disease (74%). Regarding the causes of epilepsy, the majority of participants had listed brain disease (65%) and genetic disorders (18.20%). The majority of schoolteachers (70.9%) believed that students with epilepsy usually had associated mental retardation. For the majority of teachers (73.20%), epilepsy was a stigmatizing disease, and students with epilepsy should benefit from personalized supervision (65%). The majority of schoolteachers (75.9%) had a good knowledge of epilepsy, and 43.6% had good attitudes toward epilepsy. The factor associated with teachers’ knowledge was having witnessed an epileptic seizure (p < 0.05). The factors related to schoolteacher practice was gender (p < 0.05) and having already witnessed an epileptic seizure (p < 0.05) Conclusion. Our study found that teachers had a good knowledge of epilepsy, but attitudes and practices were inadequate.