EPILEPSY AT SCHOOL: A SURVEY WITH TEACHERS AT THE CITY OF KATI, MALI, AND A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Introduction The study was conducted in Kati (a neighboring city of the capital Bamako with 200,000 inhabitants), and was about all primary schools of the city. All teachers were exhaustively interviewed using questionnaires after informed consent. It was a descriptive study. Questions were on belief, knowledge, attitude, practice about epilepsy, and the impact. Results Ninety two teachers of which 60 were males and 32 females were interviewed. The mean age of teachers was 30 years. The majority had more than five years of professional experience. Of them, about 38% attributed the disease to an occult cause, 59% found that a child with epilepsy was victim of stigmatization in school, and about 40% thought that epilepsy was contagious. In addition, 61% thought that epilepsy was non curable, about 55% thought that a child with epilepsy had less cognitive capacities than a normal child, and 88% thought that he/ she was unable to have a normal school. Tonic clonic seizure was the most known. Regarding attitudes, 79% systematically prevented a child with epilepsy from doing sport, and 68% sent the child home after the seizure. Conclusion Epilepsy remains a public health issue as in the other African countries. The magnitude of the problem in children in epidemiological settings deserves a particular attention from health services because of its negative impact. Epilepsy becomes, besides a public health concern, a problem with development by preventing normal school in an important portion of children of school age. An initial and continued training of teachers in recognizing and managing epilepsy children might have a positive impact in fighting this disease in Africa. The teachers of this study have clearly expressed a need of training in this direction.