METHODS: A search was conducted on five databases for articles published in English from 1980 till March 2015. Included were studies who recruited children (aged 5-18 years), with a diagnosis or newly/recurrent epilepsy, an intelligent quotient (IQ) of ≥70 or attending regular school, with or without a control group, which measured academic achievement using a standardised objective measure, and published in English. Excluded were children with learning difficulties, intellectual disabilities (IQ<70) and other comorbidities such as attention deficits hyperactive disorder or autism. Two pairs of reviewers extracted the data, and met to resolve any differences from the data extraction process.
RESULTS: Twenty studies were included. The majority of the studies assessed "low achievement" whist only two studies used the IQ-achievement discrepancy definition of "underachievement". Fourteen studies (70%) reported that CWE had significantly lower academic achievement scores compared to healthy controls, children with asthma or reported norms. The remaining six studies (30%) did not report any differences. CWE had stable academic achievement scores over time (2-4 years), even among those whose seizure frequency improved. Higher parental education and children with higher IQ, and had better attention or had a positive attitude towards epilepsy, were associated with higher academic achievement score. Older children were found to have lower academic achievement score.
CONCLUSIONS: In CWE of normal intelligence, the majority of published literature found that academic achievement was lower than controls or reported norms. The high percentages of low achievement in CWE, especially in the older age group, and the stability of scores even as seizure frequency improved, highlights the need for early screening of learning problems, and continued surveillance.
METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at a tertiary care center in Malaysia from February 2019 to June 2019. Parents of children with epilepsy who were on AED for at least 3 months and aged ≤18 years old were recruited. Medication self-management was assessed using a validated Pediatric Epilepsy Medication Self-Management Questionnaire (PEMSQ). A higher total score reflects better medication self-management.
RESULTS: A total of 166 patients were recruited. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of patients was 8.20 ± 5.21 years, and 51.8% and 36.7% of patients have generalized seizure and focal seizure, respectively. The mean ± SD PEMSQ score was 116.2 ± 11.28 from a total score of 135. Among the four domains of PEMSQ, the barriers to treatment contributed to the lowest mean scores. Univariate analysis showed that the following were significantly associated with poorer medication self-management: differences in ethnicity, religion; higher number of medications; presence of comorbidities; inability to swallow tablets; and a more complex AED regimen. Other variables were not significant. Multivariate analysis showed that only ethnicity and presence of comorbidity remained independently significant (R2 = 0.14; F [4, 161] = 6.28; p
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
METHODS: The scale was translated following the standard procedures. For psychometric validation, the Turkish version of the PATE scale was administered to 201 native Turkish speakers above the age of 18 who had no history of seizures or epilepsy. It was found that the respondents were able to fill out the scale quickly and without difficulty in understanding the translated items on the scale.
RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.843 for the overall scale and above 0.7 for each individual item. Cronbach's alpha was 0.78 for the general domain and 0.792 for the personal domain. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out and showed that the scale had a structure similar to that of the original scale, with the 14 items grouped under two dimensions, similar to the original scale.
CONCLUSION: The Turkish version of the PATE scale was a valid and reliable tool to measure the attitudes toward epilepsy in Turkish society.