Understanding Illness Perceptions in Epilepsy Across All Ages
Source: European journal of paediatric neurology : EJPN : official journal of the European Paediatric Neurology Society
Summary
This study looked at how people with epilepsy understand their illness and how these perceptions affect their health and emotions. Researchers reviewed 21 articles, focusing on 17 studies involving adults and 4 studies involving children and adolescents. They used specific questionnaires to gather information about how individuals perceive their epilepsy and its impact on their lives.
The key findings showed that how people think about their illness is linked to both their physical health and emotional well-being. For children and adolescents, their feelings about epilepsy were strongly connected to various health outcomes, while this was not as clear for adults. This suggests that younger patients may be more affected by their emotional views of epilepsy than adults are.
Understanding these perceptions is important because it can help improve care and support for people with epilepsy. However, the research has limitations, such as a small number of studies focusing on children and adolescents. This means that more research is needed to fully understand how illness perceptions differ across ages and how they can be used to enhance treatment and support for all individuals with epilepsy.
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