Basic Knowledge of Epilepsy among Medical Students
Siriporn Tiamkao MD*, Somsak Tiamkao MD **, Narong Auevitchayapat MD***, Suwanna Arunpongpaisal MD****, Aporanee Chaiyakum BCT*****, Suthipun Jitpimolmard MD**, Warinthorn Phuttharak MD******, Kutcharin Phunikhom MD*, Jiamjit Saengsuwan M Pharm*******, Suda Vannaprasaht MD*
Affiliation : * Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen ** Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen *** Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen **** Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen ***** Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen ****** Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen ******* Faculty of Nursing, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen
Background : The medical students’ knowledge about basic medical neuroscience in the preclinical level may
be fragmented and incomplete.
Objective : Evaluate the knowledge of students prior to a lecture on epilepsy in clinical level.
Materials and Methods : One hundred ten fourth-year medical students’ knowledge was accessed by a self-
administered questionnaire.
Results : The presented results revealed that 91.8% of respondents knew that epilepsy arose from a transient
dysfunction in the brain. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCs) were the most common type (91.5%) they
knew and absence seizures were the least common type (33.6%) they knew. All of them knew that eating pork
and punishment of gods did not cause epilepsy. However, 50% thought that genetics was a cause and 80.3%
did not know that stroke and sleep deprivation (92.7%) cause epilepsy. About treatment and prognosis, only
28.2% of respondents thought epilepsy can be cured and patients should take antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for
seizure free 2-5 years (48.2%), life long (33.6%). They knew that the patients should be prohibited from
driving (80%), working on machinery (74.5%), and (27.3%) avoid drinking. However, they knew that the
patients could marry (100%), get pregnant (98.2%), and lactate (91.9%). Regarding the first aid management,
50.9% of them recommended that placing a piece of wood between the teeth during a seizure and perform chest
compressions (20.0%). Means knowledge scores is about 60%, the highest score is the definition of epilepsy
(90.2%) and the lowest is type of seizure (43%).
Conclusion : The findings indicated that lecturers should review aspects of pathophysiology and emphasize
on type of seizure, cause, consequences, and prognosis including first-aid management.
Keywords : Basic knowledge, Medical student, Epilepsy
