Assessment of risk factors for epilepsy and social stigma Of epileptic clients in me’enit tribe, bench maji zone, snnprs, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy is a paroxysmal disorder in which a person has two or more unprovoked seizures. A seizure results from an abnormal electrical discharge and the clinical manifestations vary greatly. Seizure manifestations range from brief sensory experience, to microsecond lapses in concentration, to convulsive status epilepticus. Objective : To assess risk factors of epilepsy and stigma experienced by patients and relative of people with epilepsy in Me’enit tribe Bench Maji Zone in 2011 Methods and materials: Community based matched case-control study was conducted, in Me’enit tribe from March-April/2011 G.C.A sample of 114 cases and 114 controls, a total of 228 study subject were selected from the source population. Cases were people living with epilepsy or people who have a history of two unprovoked seizure confirmed by experienced medical doctor and Controls were people confirmed not to have epilepsy by a experienced medical doctor. By using standard questionnaires the data about risk factors and social stigma from these confirmed case’s and controls were collected by 2 experienced physicians and 2 diploma nurse translators. The historical details and the seizure patterns were obtained through interviews with each case and accompanying relative. Data were edited, recoded and entered in to computer and analyzed using Epi-info version 3.4.3 windows for the matching analysis. Result: Those risk factors found to be significantly associated with epilepsy by bivariate analysis were entered into multiple logistic regression models with conditional logistic regression method, with probability for entry of the variables fixed at 0.05.In the final multivariate model, family history of epilepsy (OR=12.13, 95%CI 3.26-45.1 P = 0.0002), and a history of febrile seizures (OR=4.21, 95%CI 1.0-16.20 P = 0.03), emerged as strong independent predictors of epilepsy. Conclusion and Recommendations: In conclusion, this population-based case–control study identified family history of epilepsy, and antecedent history of febrile seizures as strong independent predictors of epilepsy, Pork consumption, outdoor defecation and latrine availability were prevalent in the study area. . The information that adverse fibril seizure increased the risk of epilepsy by four fold suggests that much of the epilepsy in Me’enit community may be preventable by improved maternal, neonatal and child care and it is recommended that MOH at different level and stakeholders should work on it.