How does the label "epileptic" influence attitudes toward epilepsy?
Seizure
; 33: 54-9, 2015 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26562297
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
The purpose of our research was to study the possible differences in attitudes toward epilepsy based on the label used "person"/"child with epilepsy" vs. "epileptic"/"epileptic child".METHODS:
Two randomly assigned groups of college-preparatory high school students were questioned using anonymous questionnaires about their demographics, knowledge on epilepsy and attitudes toward epilepsy. Attitudes were measured using three general attitude questions and a six item modified version of the Bogardus social distance scale. Two versions of the questionnaire were identical except for the term "person"/"child with epilepsy" in first group (group A) being replaced with the term "epileptic"/"epileptic child" in the second one (group B). Mann-Whitney test was used to compare attitude scores between groups.RESULTS:
There were 425 subjects in total, 208 in group A and 217 in group B. The results on the Social distance scale indicated significantly more negative attitudes in group B (p=0.008). Subjects in group B also expressed more negative attitudes than those in group A when asked about sharing a room with a person with epilepsy (p=0.005) and marrying a person with epilepsy, either themselves (p=0.033) or when the person getting married is someone close to them (p=0.024).CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, using term "epileptic" can evoke more negative attitudes toward a person with epilepsy and this seems to be especially true for more intimate life domains (cohabitation or marriage), while in more impersonal domains (such as communicating and working with a person with epilepsy), no significant influence of the label on attitudes was proven.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde
/
Epilepsia
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article