Improving Epilepsy Patient Self-Management: An Instructional Program Evaluation

Abstract

Background: Encouraging epileptic patients to develop good self-management strategies may improve their understanding of their illness and overall well-being. The aim of this study to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional program on self-management strategies for patients with epilepsy.

Subjects and Methods: A quasi-experimental design study was conducted at Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf City, within the Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf Health Directorate, specifically at The Middle Euphrates Neurosciences Center, from August 13, 2023, to November 13, 2023. The purposive sample comprised 87 patients, divided into two groups: the study group, consisting of 44 patients exposed to the instructional program, and the control group, consisting of 43 patients not exposed to the program. The effectiveness of the instructional program was measured using the Epilepsy Self-Management Scale (ESMS), which includes 38 questions measuring 5 subscales related to epilepsy self-management. The reliability of the tools was determined through test-retest, and the instrument's validity was established through expert panel review. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis.

Results: Results of the study indicate that the instructional program's effectiveness regarding self-management strategies was good, with highly significant differences observed in the study group between pre- and post-tests across all items related to the self-management strategies of patients with epilepsy.

Conclusions: The study concludes that the instruction program is appropriate and effective to improve the self-management strategies of epileptic patients. Additionally, it concludes that most of patients at the Middle Euphrates Neurosciences Center have deficit self-management strategies.