How does the label "epileptic" influence attitudes toward epilepsy?

The purpose of our research was to study the possible differences in attitudes toward epilepsy based on the label used: "person"/"child with epilepsy" vs. "epileptic"/"epileptic child".

Two randomly assigned groups of college-preparatory high school students were questioned using anonymous questionnaires about their demographics, knowledge on epilepsy and attitudes toward epilepsy. Attitudes were measured using three general attitude questions and a six item modified version of the Bogardus social distance scale. Two versions of the questionnaire were identical except for the term "person"/"child with epilepsy" in first group (group A) being replaced with the term "epileptic"/"epileptic child" in the second one (group B). Mann-Whitney test was used to compare attitude scores between groups.

There were 425 subjects in total, 208 in group A and 217 in group B. The results on the Social distance scale indicated significantly more negative attitudes in group B (p=0.008). Subjects in group B also expressed more negative attitudes than those in group A when asked about sharing a room with a person with epilepsy (p=0.005) and marrying a person with epilepsy, either themselves (p=0.033) or when the person getting married is someone close to them (p=0.024).

In conclusion, using term "epileptic" can evoke more negative attitudes toward a person with epilepsy and this seems to be especially true for more intimate life domains (cohabitation or marriage), while in more impersonal domains (such as communicating and working with a person with epilepsy), no significant influence of the label on attitudes was proven.