Adult ; Aged ; Anxiety/etiology ; Demography ; Depression/etiology ; Epilepsy/epidemiology ; Epilepsy/physiopathology* ; Epilepsy/psychology* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multicenter Studies as Topic ; Multivariate Analysis ; Personality/physiology ; Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data ; Problem Solving/physiology ; Quality of Life ; Self Concept ; Stereotyping* ; Surveys and Questionnaires
Keywords
Stigma ; Epilepsy ; Personality ; Coping
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the factors, including personality and coping styles, likely to be influential in enhancing the social stigma of epilepsy.
METHODS: Data were collected from 400 adults with epilepsy recruited from 10 epilepsy centers in Korea. Clinical information about seizures was obtained by neurologists, and other information was collected from self-completed questionnaires, including those measuring stigma scales.
RESULTS: Thirty-one percent of people with epilepsy felt stigmatized by their condition and in 9% of these the stigma was severe. Multivariate analysis identified experiences of actual discrimination from society, introverted personality, problem solving controllability, and emotional subscale of QOLIE-31 as being independently associated with the social stigma of epilepsy.
CONCLUSIONS: Episodes of discrimination, coping strategies, and personality may be important in feeling the stigma of epilepsy. These findings may provide a basis for further studies to clarify the causative factors generating the stigma of epilepsy.