Knowledge, self-management, and health-related quality of life among Omani adults with generalized epilepsy: A...

To assess epilepsy-related knowledge, self-management (SM) practices, and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) among Omani adults with generalized epilepsy and to examine the correlations between these variables.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 Omani adults with epilepsy attending three tertiary hospitals in Muscat. Knowledge was measured using the Epilepsy Knowledge Scale-19, SM practices using the Epilepsy Self-Management Scale, and HR-QoL using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics with a significance level of p ≤ 0.05.

Slightly more than half of the participants were male (52.5%), with ages ranging from 18 to 75 years (M = 33.29). Overall, participants demonstrated poor knowledge (M = 7.81/19), acceptable SM skills (M = 131.60/190), and low HR-QoL (M = 56.55/100). A significant positive correlation was found between knowledge and HR-QoL (r = 0.261, p < 0.001), whereas the correlations between knowledge and SM skills and between SM practices and HR-QoL were not significant (p = 0.710 and p = 0.104, respectively). Female gender, unemployment, presence of comorbidities, older age (≥ 50 years), and more frequent recent seizures were all significantly associated with lower HR-QoL (p ≤ 0.05).

Omani adults with epilepsy exhibit poor knowledge, only acceptable self-management skills, and low HR-QoL. The positive association between knowledge and HR-QoL highlights the need to strengthen epilepsy-related education. Culturally tailored educational and self-management support for patients, families, and the wider public is required to improve knowledge, optimize self-management, and enhance HR-QoL in Oman.