Attitudes toward epilepsy in East Malaysia using the Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale

Chia ZJ 1 , Lim KS 2 , Fong SL 1 , Sim RS 3 , Rajahram GS 4 , Narayanan V 5 Show all authors , Tan CT 1

Affiliations 

  • 1 Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: kslimum@gmail.com
  • 3 Department of Medicine, Borneo Medical Centre, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sabah, Malaysia
  • 5 Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Epilepsy Behav, 2020 09;110:107158.
PMID: 32512367 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107158

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy stigma is an important issue affecting people with epilepsy (PWE) in various social aspects of life. Most studies on stigma were among the metropolitan population but rarely on indigenous people. Hence, this study aimed to understand the attitudes toward epilepsy of the East Malaysians, comparing with the West Malaysians previously reported.

METHOD: This study was performed among the indigenous people in Kuching and Sibu (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) using the Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale. A higher score indicates poorer attitude.

RESULT: A total of 360 respondents (41.7% Kadazan-Dusun, 30.6% Bidayuh, and 24.7% Iban) aged 34.6 ± 12.6 years completed the questionnaire. They were predominantly females and had lower education level and income compared with the West Malaysians. The Sabah population had significantly lower mean scores (better attitudes) than those in Sarawak, in both personal and general domains (p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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