Parental attitudes towards epilepsy.

Parents of 352 children with history of epilepsy were interviewed by a pretested, open ended questionnaire to ascertain the nature of first aid care during an epileptic fit, complications arising out of this care, and parents' perceptions regarding causes of epilepsy. The commonest form of care provided was to force liquids by mouth (50.6%), followed by pressure over body to restrain convulsive movements (13.0%) or to put some object to force the teeth open (11.9%). The various causes of epilepsy according to the parents were: due to an evil spirit (26.7%0, heritable causes (13.9%), physical or mental weakness (6.6%) and brain damage (5.9%). The need of imparting knowledge and clear understanding about epilepsy among parents is emphasized.