Are “Theory of Mind” Skills in People with Epilepsy Related to How Stigmatised They Feel? An Exploratory Study

Table 1

Clinical and demographic characteristics of participants.

Factors	All participants
Age (years)
Median (IQR)	37.0 (27.0, 47.0)
<50	401 (79.7)
≥50	102 (20.3)
Sex (n/%)
Male	106 (21.1)
Female	397 (78.9)
Highest educational attainment (n/%)
Basic school certificate or lower	131 (26.0)
Advanced school certificate or equivalent	105 (20.9)
University degree, diploma, or higher	267 (53.1)
Employment (n/%)
Employed (full/part-time)/student	303 (60.2)
Homemaker/others	97 (19.3)
Unemployed	103 (20.5)
Epilepsy onset
Median (IQR)	18.0 (12.0, 30.0)
≤12 years	142 (28.2)
>12 years	361 (71.8)
Marital status
Single	241 (47.9)
Married	217 (43.1)
Divorced	45 (8.9)
Duration of epilepsy
Median (IQR)	15 (6, 27)
Antiepileptic medication (n/%)
Monotherapy or none	175 (34.8)
Polytherapy	328 (65.2)
Seizures (any type) prior 12 months
Median (IQR)	5 (0, 10)
No	151 (30.0)
Yes	352 (70.0)
Experience convulsive seizures? (n/%)
Yes	374 (74.4)
No	129 (25.6)
Reported cause of epilepsy
Unknown	332 (66.0)
Acquired brain injury	77 (15.3)
Others	94 (18.7)
Impact of epilepsy
Median (IQR)	−9 (14.0, −4.0)
Theory of mind test (mean, SD)
Mind in eyes test (higher = better ToM)	6.93 (1.67)
Faux pas test (higher = better ToM)	5.84 (2.01)

Notes: IQR: interquartile range; : number; SD: standard deviation; Thapar et al. [40] scale which asks “How many attacks have you had in the last 12 months?” The patient can choose from the following ordinal categories: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more.