Knowledge and Attitude of The Healthcare Staff towards Epilepsy: Experience from One Center in United Arab Emirates

Objective With this study, we wanted to assess the knowledge, awareness and attitude towards epilepsy of the healthcare staff from one of the specialized hospitals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates Method A self-administered online questionnaire was sent to all the medical, nursing and paramedical staff of Medcare Women and Children Hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates which is one of the specialized hospitals in Dubai. The questionnaire had total seven sections including the demographic information of the responder. Results The data was collected electronically on secure computer. Out of total 120 requests, 88 responses were collected (73%). 69% were staff nurses and 6% were doctors including consultants and junior doctors. 97% of the responders claimed to have some knowledge of ‘epilepsy’ as the disease and some of them had seen or dealt with a patient with an epileptic seizure. However, majority felt that there was further need for more training in this area. Conclusion From our cohort, we found out that despite self-reported awareness and knowledge about epilepsy, there was still negative and inappropriate attitude towards this condition. So not only clinical knowledge, but there seems to be more need for correcting the attitudes and beliefs towards epilepsy even in the healthcare staff.