Psychosocial and sociodemographic associates of felt stigma in epilepsy

Lack of a sufficient range in socioeconomic status (SES) in most prior studies of felt stigma and epilepsy has hampered the ability to better understand this association.

We assessed the burden and associates of felt stigma in 238 individuals with prevalent epilepsy aged 18 and older, comparing low SES with high SES.

Reported levels of stigma were higher in low SES than in high SES (p<0.0001), and all psychosocial variables were associated with stigma, including depression severity (p<0.0001), knowledge of epilepsy (p=0.006), quality of life (p<0.0001), social support (p<0.0001), and self-efficacy (p=0.0009). Stigma was statistically significantly associated with quality of life in the low SES group and with depression severity and social support in the high SES group.

Low SES alone did not account for felt stigma; rather, we found that quality of life, depressive symptoms, and social support have the greatest impact on reported felt stigma in individuals with prevalent epilepsy.