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KMID : 0368819770160020137
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Journal of the Korean Neuropsychiatr Association
1977 Volume.16 No. 2 p.137 ~ p.146
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A SOCIO-PSYCHIATRIC SURVEY OF EPILEPSY IN A RURAL AREA
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Abstract
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Considering the vast field of management of epileptics who have scarce opportunity of access to modern treatment. Quite few papers on the subject were produced in Korea. Moreover most papers dealing with field survey about the folk concepts were derived from interviews with non-epileptics. The author had an opportunity to contact a numbers of epileptics in a rural area and made an attempt to investigate directly from the epileptics the disease concept and attitude about epilepsy and its modern treatment.
The author interviewed 95 cooperative patients among 353 registered patients as epilepsy in Jang Mi Hoe in Hongsung Kun and excluded 2 patients who subsequently were given the diagnosis of schizophrenia. The subjects educational level was low; 76% achieved less than 6 years of education. The socio-economic class was also low; 64% being in the lower third bracket.
The result were as follows:
1. Mean duration of anticonvulsant administration was 26 months whereas mean duration of the interval between the 1st attack and 1st administration of anticonvulsant was 82 months.
2. 51.6% of the patients did not visit a doctor for the epilepsy. 45.7% of them were in the belief of ´Medical doctor is not able to treat epilepsy!"
3. 19.4% of the patients attributed the occurence of epilepsy to hereditary factor. This was lower than a previous study surveyed from nonepileptics revealing 36.2%.
4. Number of patients attributing the disease to psychogenic origin was the same as those attributing to somatic origin. This was also a striking finding comparing to a previous study showing a much greater attribution to somatic origin among non-epileptics.
5. The author confirmed many primitive and superstitious concepts of treatment among the epileptics that had hindered them from earlier access to modern treatment.
6. About half of the patients held dubious and or negaive attitudes toward marriage and childbirth; 63.5% were not assensive as for marriage, and 57.2% were not positive toward childbirth.
7. From this survey the author felt strongly that we needed more intensive educational program for the patients and their families and the general public, and the establishment of an organized system for the early detection and early treatment of epileptics.
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KEYWORD
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