Health and social awareness and attitudes toward epilepsy among preclinical and clinical medical students in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study

Epilepsy is a common neurological condition affecting over 50 million people worldwide. Despite advances in care, stigma and misconceptions persist and can influence help-seeking and clinical management. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), limited data are available on how medical students’ epilepsy-related knowledge, attitudes, and diagnostic confidence vary across training stages. This study assessed these outcomes among preclinical and clinical medical students and examined whether neurology-rotation exposure was associated with diagnostic confidence. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of undergraduate medical students across seven UAE medical colleges (December 2023–December 2024) using a questionnaire assessing demographics, epilepsy-related knowledge, attitudes, and diagnostic confidence. Students were categorized as preclinical or clinical, and completion of a neurology rotation was recorded. Associations were assessed using chi-square tests and logistic regression; discriminative performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Ethics approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Dubai Medical University (IRB/DMCG/AY23-24/F-16). A total of 201 students participated (83% female; 57% preclinical stage, 43% clinical stage). Diagnostic confidence was low overall (24% confident) and differed by training stage; among respondents with complete data for training stage and confidence ( n = 199), 45.2% of clinical-stage students versus 7.8% of preclinical-stage students reported confidence (OR = 9.7, 95% CI: 4.4–21.8; p < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression, completion of a neurology rotation was associated with higher diagnostic confidence (OR = 4.1, 95% CI: 2.1–7.9; p < 0.001), with modest discrimination (AUC = 0.65). Misconceptions persisted regarding epilepsy treatability (47% correctly identifying it as treatable) and independent living (26% believing people with epilepsy can live alone). Clinical exposure, particularly through neurology rotations, was associated with higher self-reported diagnostic confidence in epilepsy. Moderate associations between training phase and knowledge outcomes suggest persistent misconceptions, notably regarding epilepsy treatability and independent living. Given the cross-sectional design and self-reported measures, these findings should be interpreted as indicators of perceived preparedness rather than competence, and they support earlier and more structured neurology/epilepsy teaching alongside objective assessment. The modest sample size and uneven institutional representation may limit generalizability.