Objectives:

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological diseases seen in childhood. Compliance with treatment is the key factor of success in treatments. Non-compliance with epilepsy treatment is frequently encountered, and it is a significant problem that may necessitate the re-hospitalization of patients. It is very important for children with epilepsy in Turkey to grow into an adult with an improvement in their compliance with treatment. This study aims to determine parents’ opinions on the compliance with the treatment of their children with epilepsy and their knowledge level of epilepsy. This study used a prospective design with a cross-sectional analysis.

Methods:

The present study was conducted at the Ankara Training and Research Hospital with the involvement of 125 children diagnosed with epilepsy who were undergoing follow-up care and their parents. For data collection, a study questionnaire, which included 19 questions, 11 of which were related to descriptive characteristics of the children with epilepsy and their plans, was used. In addition, the “Epilepsy Knowledge Test for Parents” was applied to assess the level of knowledge the parents of the children with epilepsy had on this disease.

Results:

Non-pharmacological treatment applications were found to differ according to the mother’s education level (p=0.001), as well as to the father’s education level (p=0.002). The mean score obtained by the parents on the epilepsy knowledge test was 12 (minimum-maximum: 6–17).

Conclusion:

Treatment compliance of the study group was high, and the parents’ education level was shown to affect the status of their non-pharmacological treatment application. It was further found that in cases where the parents’ education level was not high, great care was still shown to their children’s treatment plan. This finding can be attributed to the importance given to children in the Turkish family structure.

Keywords: Child, compliance with treatment, epilepsy, nursing, parents