Determining Seizure Self-Efficacy in School-Age and Adolescent Children with Epilepsy

Aim: Epilepsy frequently occurs in childhood and represents oneof the most common neurological conditions seen in this agegroup. Managing the disorder effectively requires both adequateseizure control and the development of strong self-efficacy skills.This study aimed to explore the association between seizure-relatedself-efficacy and various sociodemographic factors amongschool-aged and adolescent children diagnosed with epilepsy.Material and Methods: The study was descriptive and crosssectionalin design, conducted between March and August2017 at the Pediatric Neurology Outpatient Clinic of a hospitalin Istanbul. A total of 127 children meeting the inclusion criteriaparticipated in the study after providing informed consent. Datawere gathered through a structured “Information Form” and the“Seizure Self-Efficacy Scale for Children with Epilepsy.” Statisticalanalyses included frequency distributions, one-way ANOVA, andStudent’s t-test.Results: The average age of the participants was 12.6 years; themajority were female (60.6%) and middle school students (51.2%).The mean seizure self-efficacy score was 3.12, with a Cronbach’salpha of 0.866 indicating strong internal consistency. A significantpositive correlation was found between age and seizure self-efficacyscores (p=0.017). Additionally, maternal (p=0.003) and paternal(p=0.043) education levels were significantly associated withdifferences in self-efficacy scores.Conclusion: Children face challenges related to long-term medicationuse and seizures. As age and parental education levels increase,seizure self-efficacy improves.