Mothers' Perceptions of Potential Threats Associated with Epilepsy in their Children

Background: Mothers are often the primary caregivers who closely monitortheir children with epilepsy and manage seizures and its related complications.They often experience multiple threats that affected their children’s health andability to function normally. Aim: the present study aim was to assess mothers'perceptions of potential threats associated with epilepsy in their children.Research design: A descriptive research design was utilized. Subjects:Purposive sampling of 120 mothers of children complaining of epilepsy wasincluded. Setting: the study was conducted at Neurological Outpatient Clinic atTanta Main University Hospital. Tools: Two tools were utilized. Tool (I)Epilepsy Knowledge Questionnaire. Tool (II) Mothers Perception of EpilepsyThreats. Results: slightly more than half of the mothers (55%) had moderatelevel of total knowledge regarding epilepsy. It was evident that, most of themothers (88.3%) had negative perception toward physical threats followed bysocial threats 75% and psychological threats 70%. Conclusion: Based on theresults of the present study, it can be concluded that, the majority of thestudied mothers had negative perception regarding physical threats. Nearly threequarters of the mothers had negative attitude toward psychological and socialthreats. Recommendation: Educational instructions must be designed formothers to raise their awareness about childhood epilepsy.