Awareness of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy among parents of children with epilepsy in a tertiary center

Patients' knowledge about epilepsy-related risks, morbidity, and mortality: A multicenter cohort study from Germany

INTRODUCTION

Patient education is a central component of quality care. Enhancing patient knowledge can improve patients' quality of life and facilitate successful self-management. We sought to identify patients' knowledge levels and knowledge gaps regarding epilepsy-related risks, morbidity, and mortality.

METHODS

Adult patients with epilepsy presenting to the university hospitals in Frankfurt, Greifswald, and Marburg between February 2018 and May 2020 were asked to participate in this questionnaire-based study.

RESULTS

A total of 238 patients (52% women), with a mean age of 39.2 years (range: 18-77 years), participated in this study. Spontaneously, the majority of patients (51.3%) named driving a car, and other traffic-related accidents as possible causes of morbidity and mortality, and 23.9% of patients reported various causes of premature death, such as suffocation, drowning, and respiratory or cardiac arrest due to seizures. Falls due to epilepsy (19.7%) and injuries in general (17.6%) were named as further causes of morbidity and mortality. The vast majority were aware that alcohol (87.4%), sleep deprivation (86.6%), and risky activities in daily life (80.3%) increased the risk of seizure occurrence or increased morbidity and mortality. Regarding overall mortality, 52.1% thought that people with epilepsy were at greater risk of premature death, whereas 46.2% denied this fact to be true. Only 29.4% were aware of status epilepticus, and 27.3% were aware of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Driving ability, working ability, and seizure risk were named as major or moderate concerns among patients, but the risk of premature mortality was not a major concern. One-quarter of all patients (26.9%) indicated that they were not counseled about any risk factors or causes of morbidity or mortality by their physicians.

CONCLUSIONS

A lack of knowledge concerning premature mortality, SUDEP, and status epilepticus exists among adult patients with epilepsy. A substantial number of patients indicated that these issues were not discussed adequately by their physicians.

Knowledge of and attitudes towards epilepsy among first- and second-year students at a German university

PROBLEM

Little is known about university students' knowledge of and attitudes towards epilepsy.

METHODS

We invited first- and second-year students of different study subjects at Rostock University to complete a questionnaire.

RESULTS

Overall, 497 students took part in the survey (209 medicine, 105 theology, 94 primary education, 89 computer science). Of all students, 38.0% knew someone with epilepsy, and 27.2% had already witnessed a seizure. Fewer computer science students than medical students knew someone with epilepsy (p = 0.002) and had witnessed a seizure (p < 0.001). From five presented symptoms, all were correctly assigned to a possible seizure by 27.0% of all students. If they had epilepsy themselves, 43.7% would tell their fellow students about it; and 76.1% would definitely be friends with someone with epilepsy, and 53.7% would definitely date a person with epilepsy. On a 5-point Likert scale, computer science students expressed less willingness to be friends with (p < 0.001) or to date someone with epilepsy (p = 0.004) than medical students. The willingness of theology and primary education students did not significantly differ from that of medical students. We found no statistical differences between medical students and the other student groups for correct assignment of all symptoms and the readiness to tell others if they had epilepsy themselves.

CONCLUSION

First- and second-year students showed gaps in knowledge and reservations about people with epilepsy, regardless of their study subject. However, computer science students have had particularly little contact with people with epilepsy and expressed less positive attitudes. Medical students, on the other hand, hardly differed from students of theology and primary education.