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Epilepsy stigma is an important issue affecting people with epilepsy (PWE) in various social aspects of life. Most studies on stigma were among the metropolitan population but rarely on indigenous people. Hence, this study aimed to understand the attitudes toward epilepsy of the East Malaysians, comparing with the West Malaysians previously reported.

This study was performed among the indigenous people in Kuching and Sibu (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) using the Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale. A higher score indicates poorer attitude.

A total of 360 respondents (41.7% Kadazan-Dusun, 30.6% Bidayuh, and 24.7% Iban) aged 34.6 ± 12.6 years completed the questionnaire. They were predominantly females and had lower education level and income compared with the West Malaysians. The Sabah population had significantly lower mean scores (better …