Knowledge and attitude of the community towards epilepsy in Northwest Ethiopia: A huge gap on knowledge and attitude of the community

BACKGROUND: Misconception about epilepsy in Ethiopia is higher which in turn affects overall quality of life of the individuals. This research was aimed to assess knowledge and attitude of the community towards epilepsy in Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Data was entered by Epi data version 4.2 and analyzed by SPSS version 24. Descriptive and analytical statistical procedures, with 95% confidence interval were employed and significance level was determined at p-value < 0.05. RESULT: A total of 782 respondents were participated with the response rate of 96.1%. About 66.2% of respondents had poor knowledge and 67.0% had unfavorable attitude, towards epilepsy. In multivariate logistic regression, younger age, rural resident, not knew someone with epilepsy, did not have witness of seizure episode, and did not take prior training were associated with poor knowledge. Male sex, rural resident, did not know someone with epilepsy, did not have witness of seizure episode, did not take prior training, and had poor knowledge were associated with unfavorable attitude towards epilepsy. CONCLUSION: Majority of participants had poor knowledge and unfavorable attitude. Public education about epilepsy is recommended to modify misconceptions and to promote positive attitudes.