Psychosocial and sociodemographic associates of felt stigma in epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: 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.

METHODS: 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.

RESULTS: 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.

CONCLUSIONS: 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.