Knowledge, Attitude and Practice About Epilepsy among Elementary School teachers in Taif City, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder that has a major impact on children's development, mental health and social life. Teachers' knowledge and views on epilepsy can help or harm children with epilepsy as they spend a considerable time in school. Objectives: We aimed to assess elementary school teachers' knowledge, attitude and practice towards epilepsy in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out on 400 elementary school teachers from 16 schools in Taif city using convenience sampling technique and data was collected between February and March 2017 using a 16-question questionnaire. Results: 223 and 177 of the participants were males and females, respectively and the mean age was 37 +/- 8.21. (95%) of participants have heard of epilepsy and their source of knowledge was mostly public media (43%). (58.8%) believed that epilepsy is a result of multiple causes like head trauma, brain tumor and even spiritual illness. (15.5%) think that epilepsy can't be cured or controlled and (17.3%) think children with epilepsy can't practice their life normally. The majority of them (79%) will allow their children to play with an epileptic child but only (19%) will allow them to marry an epileptic patient in the future. If a child is having a seizure at school (40.3%) of the teachers chose to open their mouth forcefully to prevent tongue swallowing. Conclusion: There is a gap in teachers' knowledge regarding epilepsy which necessitates the presence of education programs about dealing with epileptic children properly.