EPILEPSY & BEHAVIOR, vol.134, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
Aim: Due to reactions, such as being ridiculed, blamed, or rejected, children with epilepsy and their families may consider epilepsy as something to be ashamed of, and therefore both the child and parents hide the disease from other people. No valid and reliable measurement in Turkish language that evaluates the level of this behavior, which will greatly affect the management of epilepsy, in both children and parents has been found in the literature. This study was carried out to test the validity and reliability of the Epilepsy Disclosure Scale (EDS) - Youth and Parent Versions in Turkey. Materials and method: A descriptive, comparative, correlational, and methodological design was used in the study. The study was carried out with 200 youth with epilepsy between the ages of 8 and 18, who were registered in the pediatric neurology outpatient clinic of a university hospital located in the western region of Turkey, and their parents. The study data were collected using a Descriptive Information Form and the Turkish version of the EDS-Y and the EDS-P. The data were evaluated using content validity index, explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, split-half, and item-total score correlation.Findings: The total explained variance of the Turkish version of the EDS-Y consisting of one subdimension and six items was determined as 53.55%, and the total explained variance of the Turkish version of the EDS-P consisting of one sub-dimension and six items was determined as 59.39%. Cronbach's alpha values were 0.864 for the overall Turkish EDS-Y and 0.881 for the EDS-P. According to the confirmatory factor analysis, the model fit indices of both scales were found to be above 0.90 and the factor loads of all items were greater than 0.40.Conclusion: The Turkish versions of the EDS-Y and EDS-P scales have acceptable internal consistency reliability and content and construct validity and can be used by health professionals to evaluate the concealment of epilepsy from the perspectives of both young people and parents.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.