Sociodemographic Factors Influencing Health Care-Seeking Behavior for Pediatric Epilepsy in Southeast Nigeria.

Autor: Igwe WC; Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria., Umeadi EN; Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria., Echendu ST; Department of Paediatrics, Life International Hospital, Awka, Nigeria., Odita AO; Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of neurosciences in rural practice [J Neurosci Rural Pract] 2022 Jun 06; Vol. 13 (3), pp. 448-452. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jun 06 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748174
Abstrakt: Background  Early presentation and initiation of appropriate anticonvulsants help in controlling epilepsy and reducing morbidity and mortality associated with epilepsy. Objectives  This study aimed to assess the health-seeking behavior for pediatric epilepsy among caregivers in Southeast Nigeria and the associated sociodemographic factors. Methodology  This study was a cross-sectional descriptive and questionnaire-based study. The participants were recruited consecutively. Results  Majority of the caregivers were mothers, had some formal education, and were employed. While 50% of these caregivers did not seek any home treatment for seizures, the other half offered various types of unorthodox home treatments. Treatments in primary and secondary levels of care were the most common form of first point of care outside the home. The most common reasons for the choice of care outside the home were advice from relations and belief in the efficacy of care offered. About 45% of the caregivers presented to tertiary level of care within 6 months of seizure onset. The major motivators for seeking care in tertiary level of care were health workers and families of children with epilepsy. Conclusion  There is a need to strengthen the primary and secondary levels of care through continuous medical education of health workers in these levels of care for effective management of epilepsy. This will help in making prompt and correct diagnosis, classification, and initiation of appropriate therapy in epilepsy.
Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None declared.
(Association for Helping Neurosurgical Sick People. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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