Background: Investigating the sources of knowledge on epilepsy among public will be beneficial for implementing public campaign that aim to educate them on this disorder. Aim: The aim of this survey was to assess the sources of knowledge on epilepsy among public in Jordan.
Design and Setting: This cross-sectional study was performed during the period of February June 2005. Selected individuals of the sample were interviewed by well- trained senior pharmacy students. Each individual was asked to fill a questionnaire containing 10 questions on knowledge and its sources regarding epilepsy disease. The first question was “Have you ever heard a disease called epilepsy? The other question included in the survey was “Have you ever seen a person having an epileptic attack? The other 8 questions were addressed to know the sources of information regarding epilepsy. Theses sources were: Word of mouth, mass media, physicians, pharmacists, nurses, herbalists, religious men and other possible sources.
Demographic data such as age, sex, nationality, place of residence, occupation and level of education were also recorded.
Results: Out of 16500 adults at the age of not less than 18 years only 16044 agreed to participate and fill the questionnaire making the response rate 97.2%. The number (%) of males and females were 8158 (50.8%) and 7886 (49.2%) respectively.
The percentage of public witnessing patients with epileptic fits was the lowest among people with illiterate education and highest among persons holding a Ph.D. degree. Word of the mouth was the most common source of knowledge on epilepsy while the herbalist was the least common source. Moreover, 20% of the sample relies on 2 3 sources while 2% get their knowledge from 8 – 9 sources.