Abstracts

Rationale: Children with epilepsy are at risk for difficulties at school, including underachievement and social challenges. Improving teachers understanding of seizures and epilepsy is a first step in mitigating these problems. Previous studies surveyed school teachers about their knowledge of, and attitudes toward, epilepsy. However, teachers' self-assessed confidence in their knowledge of epilepsy, and their preferences for information sources, have not been addressed. The purpose of this study was to discern the confidence of local elementary school teachers in their knowledge of epilepsy, and their preferred media or sources of information about epilepsy. Methods: Elementary school teachers in Washtenaw County, Michigan (n=894) were contacted via email for an online anonymous survey, which addressed teacher background information, teachers confidence in their knowledge of seizures and epilepsy, and their preferred sources of information about epilepsy. We compared the responses of special education teachers to those of regular classroom teachers using Fischer s Exact Test.Results: Eighty-three of 894 teachers responded to the survey (9.3% response rate). Fifty-nine respondents (72%) teach in a regular classroom, and 18 (22%) in special education or resource room. Nine teachers (11%) currently have a student with epilepsy, while 51 (62%) have taught at least one student with epilepsy in their career. Special education teachers were more likely than regular classroom teachers to have taught three or more students with epilepsy in their career (50% vs. 14%; p=0.0038). One quarter of all teachers expressed a lack of confidence in their ability to teach students with epilepsy. Similarly 26% of teachers were not confident in their ability to respond appropriately to a seizure. Regular classroom teachers were much more likely than special education teachers to express inadequate knowledge about epilepsy (57% vs. 19%; p=0.010). Teachers most frequently (68%) used the internet as their primary source of information about epilepsy, with the school nurse and parents/guardians also frequently cited (55% and 48% respectively). Only 28% of respondents cited physicians as a source of information. In contrast, most respondents would prefer that their information come from the school nurse (74%) or a physician (73%), while only 25% cited the internet as a preferred source. When given a choice of websites, teachers most frequently chose EpilepsyFoundation.org (70.5%) as a trusted source of information.Conclusions: A substantial proportion of elementary school teachers lack confidence in their knowledge of epilepsy. Many indicate apprehension about teaching students who have epilepsy, and about responding appropriately during seizures. Although teachers prefer to receive epilepsy-related education from health professionals, most obtain their information from the internet. Future collaborative education efforts between school nurses and physicians could improve teachers knowledge of epilepsy and might assist in alleviating some of the social stigma and academic challenges faced by school children with epilepsy.