A questionnaire survey about doctor-patient communication, compliance and locus of control among South Indian people with epilepsy

To date, very few studies have investigated patients' views on the informat ion they receive from the doctor concerning epilepsy and its management. Li ttle information is available about the influence of doctor-patient communi cation and locus of control on the compliance of persons with epilepsy. We investigated, through a questionnaire-interview design, among patients atte nding the epilepsy clinic of a tertiary referral center in South India, the ir views about the provision of information by the doctor, and their compli ance and locus of control. We also determined the interrelation between doc tor-patient communication, compliance and locus of control. Our subjects co mprised 200 adult persons with epilepsy, 113 males and 87 females, mean age 30.5 (range 18-67) years. Over one-third of the subjects received from the doctor insufficient information about epilepsy and its treatment. There wa s a significant positive correlation between effective doctor-patient commu nication and compliance. A majority of our patients had an external locus o f control, which negatively influenced the compliance. Even in a comprehens ive epilepsy clinic of a model tertiary referral center in a developing cou ntry, a significant proportion of patients do not receive optimal informati on about epilepsy from the doctor. Knowledge about their disease will encou rage people with epilepsy to make informed choices, and achieve better comp liance and personal control of their problems. Educating primary and second ary care physicians about the importance of doctor-patient communication in the management of epilepsy and educating the public about the positive asp ects of life in epilepsy cannot be overemphasized. (C) 2000 Published by El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.