Assessment of compliance-relevant indispensable knowledge to cope with epilepsy in epileptic patients in Xi'an

Objective: To investigate the knowledge level related to compliance in patients with epilepsy. Methods: Eighty-seven patients with epilepsy were tested in the city of Xi'an with a knowledge questionnaire containing 21 questions related to compliance. Results: Over 39.5% of patients did not know that epilepsy is the result of abnormal firing of neurons, while 29.9% were uncertain or did not realize that epilepsy attacks can bring up accidents such as traffic accidents, drowning and trauma. A total of 36.6% of responders thought that the best therapy for epilepsy could be found in Traditional Chinese Medicine. As many as 36.8% of tested patients were uncertain or did not know that frequent epilepsy attacks can affect their intelligence. Up to 36% were unaware of the possible consequence of sudden withdrawal of anti-epileptic drugs (AED). Among responders, 39.1% did not know the right treatment method of epilepsy. That AED can control seizure attacks were doubted in 57.5% of epileptic patients. Furthermore, 32.2% did not know whether the disease could be cured. Conclusion: In this group of epileptic patients, generally they do not have enough indispensable knowledge to cope with epilepsy. They urgently need for proper health education besides effective AED to control seizure attacks and improve their quality of life.