Prejudice towards chronic diseases: Comparison among epilepsy, AIDS and diabetes

Summary Introduction Diseases have an additional negative meaning but with different magnitude. Epilepsy is considered a stigmatizing condition; however its magnitude is unknown in our society, a limited-resource country, as Brazil. Purpose To compare the stigma perception of epilepsy to other two c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seizure (London, England) England), 2007-06, Vol.16 (4), p.320-323
Main Authors: Fernandes, Paula T, Salgado, Priscila C.B, Noronha, Ana Lúcia A, Barbosa, Fernanda D, Souza, Elisabete A.P, Sander, Josemir W, Li, Li M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - psychology
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Attitude to Health
Brazil
Child
Chronic Disease
Diabetes Mellitus - psychology
Epilepsy
Epilepsy - psychology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neurology
Prejudice
Scale
Seizure
Stigma
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Summary:Summary Introduction Diseases have an additional negative meaning but with different magnitude. Epilepsy is considered a stigmatizing condition; however its magnitude is unknown in our society, a limited-resource country, as Brazil. Purpose To compare the stigma perception of epilepsy to other two chronic conditions: AIDS and diabetes in the city of Campinas, Brazil. Methods We interviewed people in two situations: on the streets (145 randomly selected people) and during a Meeting of Epilepsy (86 people). We asked three questions “What score would you rate for the prejudice that general population has towards: epilepsy, AIDS and diabetes” . The score ranges from 0 (no prejudice) to 10 (maximum prejudice), and was displayed to the interviewee in the format of a ruler. Results The median (upper and lower 95% confidence interval) prejudice score of lay people was 9 (7.8–8.6) for AIDS, 7 (6.1–7.0) for epilepsy and 2 (2.5–3.5) for diabetes. The median prejudice score of people with epilepsy and relatives was 9 (6.9–8.1) for AIDS, 7 (6.4–7.5) for epilepsy and 2.5 (2.9–4.2) for diabetes. Discussion There is a difference in the perception of prejudice towards people with chronic diseases; AIDS had the highest level of stigma and diabetes the lowest, and epilepsy was in the intermediate position but closer to AIDS.
ISSN:1059-1311
1532-2688
DOI:10.1016/j.seizure.2007.01.008