The perceptions and attitudes of patients with epilepsy to the use of a seizure diary, South Africa

South African Family Practice

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The perceptions and attitudes of patients with epilepsy to the use of a seizure diary, South Africa
 
Creator Egenasi, Chika K. Moodley, Anandan A. Steinberg, Wilhelm J. Joubert, Gina
 
Subject family medicine; primary health care; general practice seizure diary; epilepsy; paper diary; electronic diary; seizure frequency; patients who had previous exposure to the seizure diary; unexposed
Description Background: Epilepsy is responsible for a significant proportion of the world’s disease burden, affecting around 50 million people globally. A seizure diary is a self-management tool for epilepsy focusing on self-monitoring, tracking seizures and other symptoms. This study aimed to determine the perceptions and attitudes to the seizure diary in patients with epilepsy in the Free State and Northern Cape of South Africa.Methods: This cross-sectional survey method included adult patients with epilepsy attending Universitas Academic Hospital Specialist Epilepsy Clinic in Bloemfontein and local clinics in Kimberley (City, Beaconsfield and Betty Gatsewe), as well as the casualty department of Kimberley hospital (Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital). The Kimberley patients were diary-unexposed, while the Bloemfontein patients were patients who had previous exposure to the seizure diary.Results: A total of 182 patients with epilepsy were recruited for the study, of whom 65 were patients who had previous exposure to the seizure diary, and 117 were unexposed. In the patients who had previous exposure to the seizure diary, 64 (98.5%) found the diary useful, but 15 (23.1%) reported having various challenges with using the seizure diary. Almost all of the patients who had previous exposure to the seizure diary, 64 (98.5%), were willing to continue to use the diary, while 112 (95.7%) of the diary-unexposed patients were also willing to use the diary.Conclusion: Information from some patients using the diary confirms various challenges with its use; however, most patients support the continued usage of the diary. 
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2023-01-09
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — cross-sectional
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/safp.v65i1.5503
 
Source South African Family Practice; Vol 65, No 1 (2023): Part 1; 7 pages 2078-6204 2078-6190
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5503/7735 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5503/7736 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5503/7737 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/5503/7738
 
Coverage Africa; South Africa; Free State; Northern Cape; Bloemfontein; Kimberley January-July 2021 18 and above; epilepsy patients
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Chika K. Egenasi, Anandan A. Moodley, Wilhelm J. Steinberg, Gina Joubert https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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