Current knowledge about epilepsy and associated psychosocial conditions

SUMMARY Introduction Social knowledge about epilepsy has significant influence on shaping attitudes towards people with this disorder. Aim The aim of the article was to find out an answer to the following question: How does the level of knowledge and perceiving people with epilepsy differ across societies of different countries? Material and methods We evaluated 30 publications published between 2000 and 2013 on measuring the knowledge about epilepsy and psycho-social functioning of people with epilepsy. The articles were divided into five groups (including five continents): Europe-14 articles: six from Poland and eight from other countries, one from New Zealand, five from America, six from Asia and four from Africa. Discussion and conclusions Despite widespread occurrence of the disorder in the world, the level of knowledge about epilepsy is low. Most authors, but also respondents, still postulate the necessity to introduce education on the matter to various age groups. The best form of communication used by the respondents is the media.