Perception and Use of Alternative Treatments among Patients with Epilepsy
Sunee Lertsinudom BSc, BCP1,4, Somsak Tiamkao MD2,4, Sineenard Pranboon MSN3,4, Supinya Tuntapakul BPharm, BCP1,4
Affiliation : 1 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Thailand 2 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand 3 Nursing Division, Srinagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand 4 Integrated Epilepsy Research Group, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Objective : Epilepsy is a common neurological disease which affects the quality of life of patients physically, mentally, and
socially, and an increase in use of alternative treatments has been found in epileptic patients. The purpose of this study was
to investigate alternative treatments used by epileptic patients and to determine the perceptions of epileptic patients toward
alternative treatments.
Materials and Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using in-depth interviews with patients with
epilepsy at an epilepsy clinic at a university hospital in Thailand between January and March 2015 by 3 interviewers who
were standardized training of semi structure interview questionnaire. The end of interview was until saturation.
Results : Interviewees included 30 patients averaging 46.9+17.1 years of age, 60 % of whom were female. The most frequent
type of seizure patients had experienced was generalized tonic-clonic seizures (had occurred in 50% of patients), and the
average frequency of seizures was 1.71 times/month. We found that 56.7% of patients had used more than 1 type of
alternative treatment and 33.3% of patients were still using alternative treatments at the time of the interview. Alternative
treatments which patients used the most were dietary supplements (20 persons, 36.4%), followed by herbs or herbal
products (17 persons, 30.9%) and superstition (16 persons, 29.1%). Most reasons patients gave for their use of alternative
treatments were psychological, physical, or belief-based in nature. On average, patients spent 38+9 USD per person per
month for alternative treatments. Perceptions of epileptic patients toward dietary supplements, herbs or herbal products,
and superstitious methods were unsatisfied (40%, 41.2%, and 18.8% of patients, respectively), satisfied (30%, 35.3%, and
50% of patients, respectively), and indifferent (20%, 5.9%, and 31.3% of patients, respectively).
Conclusion : Most of the patients used more than 1 type of alternative treatment. Common reasons provided for using an
alternative treatment were psychological, physical, or belief-based in nature. Beliefs seemed to play an important role in
one’s faith in an alternative treatment to treat seizures. When a healthcare team recognizes the perceptions of their patients,
they can more effectively counsel patients to prevent antiepileptic drug-herb or antiepileptic drug-food supplement interaction
and educate patients about the importance of anti-epilepsy drug use.
Keywords : Alternative treatment, Epilepsy, Perceptions
