Abstracts

Witnessing seizures can be frightening for both onlookers and families. There is often a fear of death or permanent brain damage. The goal of this study was to explore the responses of families to a suspected first seizure event., A prospective cohort of 127 consecutive children with a probable first seizure referred the Alberta Children[apos]s Hospital between 01/01/2004 and 30/08/2005 were invited to participate in the study. One hundred and four families agreed. The database for the study was created prior to its initiation. Families were interviewed prior to the visit with the epileptologist and were asked open ended questions and their responses recorded. Information was documented with regards to: How parents felt at the time of the first seizure, where they went for information and the kind of resources they used, and their perceptions regarding the impact of the first seizure on the relationship with their child., Seventy-four percent of children were diagnosed with epileptic events, 24% with non-epileptic events and in 2% the events were unclassifiable. Responses were similar between epileptic and non-epileptic families. The majority of parents described their responses to their child[apos]s first seizure as [ldquo]scared[rdquo], [ldquo]terrified[rdquo], [ldquo]panicked[rdquo], [ldquo]helpless[rdquo], feeling [ldquo]useless[rdquo], [ldquo]confused[rdquo], [ldquo]very upset[rdquo], [ldquo]horrible[rdquo], [ldquo]anxious[rdquo], [ldquo]shocked[rdquo], [ldquo]worried[rdquo], [ldquo]frightened[rdquo], [ldquo]stressed[rdquo], and [ldquo]freaked out[rdquo]. One third of the families did not seek further information after their child[apos]s event; 24 (23%) relied solely on oral or written information provided by health care providers (emergency physicians, family physicians, pediatricians, paramedics, and nurses), 11 parents (11%), relied on information from the internet, 4 (4%) used library and text books, and 8 (8%) asked family and friends. Twenty-two (21%) used a combination of sources. Sixty-seven (64%) of the parents reported that the relationship between the parent and child changed., A presumed first seizure is clearly an emotional event for families and onlookers. A significant proportion of families did not seek further information regarding their child[apos]s event. The most common single source of information for families is health care providers. Over two thirds of families reported providing closer supervision of their children and restriction of activities.,