Study of Pathway to Care among Patients with Epilepsy

Authors

  • S Subedi Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, U.C.M.S.
  • PM Shyangwa Professor, BPKIHS
  • R Shakya Associate Professor, Patan Academy of Health Sciences
  • AK Pandey Associate Professor, BPKIHS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/jucms.v1i1.8418

Keywords:

Epilepsy

Abstract

Objective: To assess the pathway to care among patients with epilepsy up to the tertiary care centre Methods: It is a hospital based, cross-sectional descriptive study of 47 patients visiting BPKIHS psychiatry OPD. Written informed consent was taken from the patients and the primary caretaker. A semi structured Performa was used to record the basic sociodemographic details. Pathway Interview Schedule developed by WHO was used to collect the data.

Results Majority (66.0%) of subjects were male. Generalized Seizures were most common (76.6%) type of seizure followed by complex-partial seizure (10.6%). More than half (51.1%) first contacted dhami-jhakri for treatment of their illness. About sixty two percent of patients had the first contact with the treatment provider less than 4 yrs ago. Thirty eight percent subjects sought treatment as per advice from the family members while only 2.1% sought treatment as per advice from the healthcare worker. The most common presenting complaints were sudden loss of consciousness in 89.4%of patients. In majority of patients (57.4%), problem arised ≤ 4yrs back. Significant high numbers of patients (51.1%) were prescribed alternative forms of treatment like herbal medications, talisman, offerings and sacrifices and jhadphook for their presenting problem. About eighty seven percent patients had to travel ≤12 hours for the treatment while 10.7% had to travel a distance of >24 hrs for treatment. The mean duration that one had to travel for seeking treatment was 7.95±14.58 hours. It was found that the mean duration that one patient spend before coming to a hospital for modern treatment was 5.64 months.

Conclusions People suffering from epilepsy are still using the traditional healing practices leading to delay in the patient care. These findings call for a comprehensive educational program that can remove the misconcepts regarding the illness.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jucms.v1i1.8418  

Journal of Universal College of Medical Sciences Vol.1(1) 2013:  20-25

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Published

2013-08-09

How to Cite

Subedi, S., Shyangwa, P., Shakya, R., & Pandey, A. (2013). Study of Pathway to Care among Patients with Epilepsy. Journal of Universal College of Medical Sciences, 1(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.3126/jucms.v1i1.8418

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Original Articles

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