Table 2 Comparison of demographic and clinical characteristics between PWEs with and without experience of stigmatization

Age (years), mean ± SD/ median

38.23 ± 16.88/33.00

35.72 ± 15.85/32.00

0.193^a

Sex, n (%)

0.286^b

 Male

82 (56.2%)

76 (50.0%)

 Female

64 (43.8%)

76 (50.0%)

Domicile, n (%)

0.668^b

 Urban area

67 (45.9%)

66 (43.4%)

 Rural area

79 (54.1%)

86 (56.6%)

Marital status, n (%)

0.213^b

 Single

54 (37%)

67 (44.1%)

 Married

92 (63.0%)

85 (55.9%)

Education level, n (%)

0.082^b

 Primary school

20 (13.7%)

16 (10.5%)

 Junior high school

62 (42.5%)

47 (30.9%)

 High school

37 (25.3%)

55 (36.2%)

 University and above

27 (18.5%)

34 (22.4%)

Employment status, n (%)

0.809^b

 Students

14 (9.6%)

20 (13.2%)

 Unemployed

59 (40.4%)

57 (37.5%)

 Part-time employee

12 (8.2%)

9 (5.9%)

 Full-time employee

51 (34.9%)

55 (36.2%)

 Retired

10 (6.8%)

11 (7.2%)

Income level (yuan), n (%)

0.814^b

 < 10,000

73 (50.0%)

81 (53.3%)

 10,000–50,000

55 (37.7%)

55 (36.2%)

 > 50,000

18 (12.3%)

16 (10.5%)

Age at onset (years), mean ± SD/ median

29.02 ± 20.63/23.50

27.97 ± 17.73/23.00

0.851^a

Duration of epilepsy (years), mean ± SD/ median

9.34 ± 9.08/7.00

7.94 ± 8.68/4.00

0.151^a

Seizure frequency (within 6 months), mean ± SD/ median

25.73 ± 126.05/2.00

9.32 ± 37.62/1.00

0.003^a

Epilepsy types, n (%)

0.320^b

Focal epilepsies

22 (15.1%)

26 (17.1%)

Generalized epilepsies

122 (83.6%)

126 (82.9%)

Unknown epilepsies

2 (1.4%)

0 (0.0%)

ASM therapy regimen, n (%)

0.154^b

Monotherapy

107 (73.3%)

122 (80.3%)

Polytherapy

39 (26.7%)

30 (19.7%)

History of febrile convulsions, n (%)

0.006^b

 Yes

17 (11.6%)

05 (3.3%)

 No

129 (88.4%)

147 (96.7%)

Causes of epilepsy

0.145^b

 Known

36 (24.7%)

27 (17.8%)

 Unexplained

110 (75.3%)

125 (82.2%)