Objectives: Relatives of epilepsy patients tend to intervene their patients during epileptic seizure with an intention to help them. Usually not based on a medical knowledge, these behaviors may harm the patient rather than providing benefit. This study aimed to investigate interventional behaviors to the seizure to build a base for informing epilepsy patients and their relatives. Methods: In this study, a questionnaire prepared by us was applied to the participants who met the inclusion criteria. Results: A total of 23 subjects, consisting of 20 females and three males, participated to the survey. Mean age of the participants was 42. There were four patients who thought the event to be epilepsy. The percentage of participants who declared that they observed a seizure before was 47.8%. When the interventions were grouped, it found that 52.2% of participants intervened to the surrounding, while 47.8% intervened to the patient. About half of the participants said “epilepsy is a brain disorder.” No participants associated epilepsy with magic or supernatural power. Conclusion: As our study based on questionnaire about witnessing a seizure, we sought answers to the question of “what you did during the seizure.” Approximately half of the relatives of the patients (47.8%) chose to intervene in their patients; the conclusion that it is important to inform the society becomes meaningful when considering that the interventions may have the potential risk to their patients.
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Eda ASLANBABA BAHADIR ,
Mine Hayriye SORGUN ,
Zerin ÖZAYDIN AKSUN ,
Tehran ALLAHVERDİYEV ,
Onur BULUT ,
Seyda ERDOĞAN ,
Fatma TUĞRA KARAARSLAN ,
Aygül NADİROVA ,
Büşra ÖLMEZ ,
Canay ÖNDER ,
Turgut ŞAHİN ,
Ömer Eray YALAP ,
Zehra YAVUZ ,
Abdullah Yasir YILMAZ ,
Mustafa ERDOĞAN ,
Canan TOGAY IŞIKAY
Objective: It has been reported that the mortality due to ischemic stroke is higher and the prognosis is worse in women compared with men. The aim of this study was to determine the etiologic subtypes, risk factors, and prognosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in females. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 957 patients who were admitted with AIS between January 2011 and May 2017. The patients’ records were analyzed and the demographic data, risk factors, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores at admission, and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) in the follow-up were recorded. We determined etiologic stroke subtypes using the Automated Causative Classification System. Results: In the study, 432 (45.1%) female patients [mean age: 71.2±14.7 (range: 21-100) years] and 525 (54.9%) male patients [mean age: 67.2±12.9 (range: 25-103) years] were included. The women were older than the men (p<0.001). Atrial fibrillation (AF) and congestive heart failure were more common in females (p<0.001). Otherwise, coronary artery disease was more common in males (p<0.001). NIHSS score at admission and the number of patients with mRS scores over 2 in the follow-up after discharge were higher in female patients than in male patients (p<0.05). The most common ischemic stroke etiology in females was cardioembolism (48.4%), whereas it was in major large artery atherosclerosis in males (31.6%). On logistic regression analysis, AF and cardio-aortic embolism were significantly associated with female sex (p<0.05). Conclusion: In our series, AIS was more severe and caused more disability in females compared with males. AF was more common as an underlying etiology of ischemic stroke in females. These results reveal the importance of AF screening and anticoagulant treatment prophylaxis in the older female population.
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