Determinants of felt stigma in epilepsy

- Felt-stigma, overprotection, concealment of epilepsy and concerns related with epilepsy were reported by almost half of the participants.
- Concerns related with future occupation and social life were reported more.
- Seizure frequency causes differences on overprotection, and in all concerns domains.
- AED use causes differences on overprotection, felt-stigma, and concerns related with future occupation and social life.
- Felt-stigma was explained by concealment, and concerns related with future occupation and with social life

The present study aimed to determine the level of felt stigma, overprotection, concealment, and concerns related to epilepsy in different life domains by using culturally-specific scales for Turkish individuals with epilepsy. Also, it aimed to detect relations among the study variables and to determine the variables which predict felt stigma. For this purpose, felt stigma scale, overprotection scale, concealment of epilepsy scale, and concerns of epilepsy scale were administered to two hundred adult persons with epilepsy (PWE). The results showed that almost half of the participants reported felt stigma, overprotection, concealment of epilepsy, concerns related to future occupation, and concerns related to social life. Almost all the study variables show correlations with each other. Concealment of epilepsy, concerns related to social life, and concerns related to future occupation were found as the predictors of felt stigma.