Assessment of knowledge towards first aid skills of epilepsy among undergraduate health students in Riyadh province of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Abdulrahman M Alshahrani; Naif Khalid Alsayed; Nemer Alotaibi; Mohammad Azhar Rashikh; Abdulrahman Talal Alghebaiwi; Faisal Faihan Alotaibi; Abdulaziz Faisal Alotaibi; Abdullah Mohammed Bin Hussain; Nawaf Mansour N Alotaibi; Mazen Saud Alotaibi

doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.109788

Assessment of knowledge towards first aid skills of epilepsy among undergraduate health students in Riyadh province of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Epilepsy Behav. 2024 Apr 20:155:109788. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.109788. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine (Neurology), College of Medicine at Shaqra, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: alshahrani.md@su.edu.sa.
² College of Medicine at Dawadmi, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine at Dawadmi, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: ne.alotaibi@su.edu.sa.
⁴ Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine at Dawadmi, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: mrashikh@su.edu.sa.

PMID: 38643662
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.109788

Abstract

Background: Applying proper first-aid measures to patients with seizure episodes plays a vital role in preventing the adverse consequences of seizures. Most previous data focused on teachers, healthcare providers and the general public. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of seizure first-aid measures among undergraduate health students.

Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted between May 16 and 31, 2023, with 493 undergraduate health students of Riyadh Province who answered online surveys. The data were collected using the descriptive information form. The chi-square (χ²) test was employed to compare knowledge of seizure first aid between demographic variables. The relationship between knowledge score and independent variables was evaluated using multiple linear regression technique.

Results: Only 1.6 % of participants demonstrated good knowledge scores toward seizure first-aid measures. The skill most frequently reported was to remove all harmful objects from their vicinity and loosen the tight clothes around the neck during a seizure; 68.7 % of the participants correctly answered with agreed. Conversely, the skill that received the lowest knowledge score among participants was putting a piece object such as a cloth, wallet, or spoon between the teeth to prevent tongue biting during a seizure; only 37.3 % of the participants correctly answered with disagree. Moreover, participants in the advanced age group, medicine and fifth-year, were found to be significant predictors of knowledge and exhibited better knowledge scores toward seizure first aid measures than their peers (p < 0.001). Furthermore, lectures and books were identified (69.6 %) as the most common source of information about seizure first aid.

Conclusion: The study concluded that most undergraduate health students demonstrated poor knowledge scores in delivering seizure first aid. This finding suggests that introducing epilepsy education from the first year in all health-related courses is crucial to improving overall awareness and skills in providing seizure first aid.

Keywords: Epilepsy education; Seizure first-aid measures; Seizure management.