The Association between Stigma and Quality of Life Among People with Epilepsy

Abstract

People with epilepsy and their families, the world over have suffered from many psychosocial problems including stigma and discrimination, and this has impacted negatively on their quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between stigma and quality of life among people with epilepsy attending Adult Neurology clinic or Adult Psychiatry clinic at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospital. Peplau’s Interpersonal Relations model was used to guide the study. A descriptive correlational study design was used. A systematic random sampling method was used to select 59 adult people with epilepsy. Data was collected using structured interview questionnaires over five weeks. The results showed that 45.76 % of participants had low stigma levels, 33.90 % had moderate stigma levels and 20.34 % had high stigma levels. Regarding the quality of life, 55.93 % of participants had a low quality of life, 27.12 % had a moderate quality of life while 16.95 % had a high quality of life. Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient (r=-0.704; p<0.001) showed a strong negative correlation between stigma and quality of life among people with epilepsy. Simple linear regression analysis showed that stigma explains 48.7 % of the variance observed in quality of life. Addressing stigma is associated with improvement in the quality of life among people with epilepsy.