Why patients say no: Patient barriers to epilepsy surgery among patients with drug‐resistant epilepsy in Singapore
A survey of patients with refractory epilepsy in Singapore revealed that patients are relatively averse to undergoing pre-surgical evaluation and surgical treatment for epilepsy, despite scientific evidence of effectiveness. Some of the major barriers include patients overestimating the risks of epilepsy surgery and perceiving seizures to be non-disabling. Our findings suggest that financial subsidies for surgery alone may not overcome patients' aversion to surgery, and that patient education is also required.
Authors
- Deidre Anne De Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7123-2381)
- Zhibin Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4413-708X)
- Shih Hui Lim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1420-0970)
- Jia Yi Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7705-1998)
- Tushar Gosavi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9045-0715)
- Hua Chan Ling
- Meenatchii Shanmugham
- Sangeetha Adiyapatham
- Zhi En Chan
- Zhi Yi Chan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2952-3959)
Institutions
- Singapore General Hospital (SG)
- SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (SG)
- National Neuroscience Institute (SG)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Epilepsia Open
- Published
- 2025-08-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.70128
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Epilepsy research and treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.47