Knowledge of Epilepsy and seizure first aid among teachers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

PURPOSE: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, with a national prevalence of 6.54/1000. The majority of the patients are adolescents and at risk of experiencing a seizure in school. Consequently, schoolteachers would be among the first health care providers. Thus, teachers' knowledge and practice are imperative for the students' safety and development. We aimed to assess the knowledge of epilepsy and seizure first aid among teachers at all educational levels in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered validated questionnaire was distributed to teachers to assess their necessary demographic data and their knowledge about epilepsy and seizure first aid by using Chi-square test to find significant associations. RESULTS: Our sample included 822 teachers, 54.1% of the respondents were male, and 45.7% female. The majority of participants had moderate knowledge of epilepsy and lacked first aid training. Most participants recognized epilepsy as a neurological disorder, and 42.2% have witnessed a seizure in school. Our study showed a significant relationship between knowledge score and qualification (P-value = 0.037) as well as knowledge score and witnessing a seizure (P-value = 0.046). CONCLUSION: The knowledge score shows that teachers in Jeddah have moderate knowledge of epilepsy, and approximately one-tenth have taken first aid training. We recommend educational campaigns on epilepsy and first aid courses targeting students and teachers in schools.