Journal de l'épilepsie

Background: Mahenge district is the leading area on the prevalence of epilepsy in which the rate keeps on increasing where rate is estimated to reach at 6.4 in three consecutive years (from 2014-2016), furthermore the government via ministry of health is requested by District Officer to find other solutions on the prevention and treatment of the epilepsy hence there is a need on assessing the causes of persistence of epilepsy in Mahenge.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to a sample of 200 Participants. Data were collected by the use of Questionnaires that carried much of open questions. Data were collected and analyzed descriptively and cross tabulation as well as chi-square were used for association.

Results: A total of 187 study respondents participated in the study. The results obtained showed that lack of knowledge on epilepsy, poverty and traditional perceptions on epilepsy play significant role in persistence of epilepsy at Mahenge, due to the absence of sufficient provision of health education in relation to poverty living line among the community and local belief that epilepsy is a tradition evil spirit disease contributes greatly to the persistence of epilepsy. The association between religious perceptions with challenges facing the community with epileptic disorder on searching for epileptic treatments; the obtained T-value (0.594). Also it was observed that affected people with epilepsy face various on seeking for treatments due few numbers of healthy facilities, and those facilities present are very distant from many of community members as well as expertise which force them to involve in seeking the traditional medicines which do not produce desirable outcomes.

Conclusion: The perceptions of the community on epilepsy and lack of knowledge on selection of suitable treatment interventions have contributed greatly to the persistence of epilepsy. As the results, the affected community members are facing social discrimination such as dropout from schools, giving no opportunity in social participation especially in decision making and also unemployment problem.