Exploring the Relationship between Residence, and Income on Psychological Distress among Individuals with Idiopathic Epilepsy in Delhi NCR Hospital Settings, India

Aims: This study investigates the prevalence and role of demographic factors in psychological distress in epileptic patients. Study Design: The study employs a nonexperimental research design to investigate the prevalence and demographic effect. Methods: Total 199 epileptic patients from the Delhi and National Capital Region, using convenient sampling were applied. Demographic information, including gender, age, education, marital status, occupation, income, and family type, and psychological distress scale (Keseler-10) were administered. Frequency distribution, percentage, chi-square, t-test, one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA used to analyse data. Results: A significant differences was found on severe psychological distress in terms of gender, educational qualification and social economic status. Patients with high school education and lower social economic status patients manifested more psychological distress. Whereas, mean scores of psychological distresses found significant on the level of educational qualification and social economic status. The interaction between income and residence highlighted that rural participant in the low social economic status group showed the highest levels of distress. Conclusion: These findings highlight the multifaceted nature of psychological distress among idiopathic epileptic patients, emphasizing the importance of addressing educational and economic disparities. These results emphasize the crucial role of socioeconomic and educational factors in mental health, highlighting the need for targeted interventions and support systems to address psychological distress in idiopathic epileptic patients.