Youth's knowledge and attitude to epilepsy.

PURPOSE The aim of this research is to assess youth's knowledge and attitude towards their epileptic peers. MATERIAL AND METHODS The present study concerned 181 students of two secondary schools in Poznań, including 107 girls and 74 boys. The tool used was a self-made questionnaire. The criterion of including a questionnaire into data was the answer to the following question: "Have you heard about epilepsy?" RESULTS The questionnaire has shown that 46% of secondary school students had already known a person with epilepsy. 91% of students knew that epilepsy was not a contagious disease, but 12% of pupils thought that epilepsy was a mental illness. Almost 23% of respondents claimed they knew what could cause epilepsy. Only 2% of the students knew how to provide first aid during an epileptic fit. 92% of the respondents accepted a person with epilepsy among their friends. CONCLUSIONS The level of the knowledge about epilepsy among pupils is insufficient. The youth do not know the causes of epilepsy, provocative factors of convulsions, and symptoms and the rules of giving first aid during an epileptic fit. The main source of information about the disease were television programs. The majority of the school - graduates expressed willingness to make friends with epileptic people and acceptance of the ill.