Consequences of Pre-Marriage Disclosure or Concealment of Epilepsy Disorder the Marital Lives of Women in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Marriage is considered to be a major source of social support for an epileptic female patient, and it has a profound impact on their quality of life. Epilepsy has adversely affected women from developing, continuing, and maintaining the marital bond. The purpose of this study is to explore the marital satisfaction of the female epileptic patients, and identifies the consequences of pre-marriage disclosure or concealment of the epilepsy disorder among married women. Descriptive cross-sectional study took place in the tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Between August-November, 2011, all married patients attending an epilepsy outpatient clinic were invited to participate in this study. Findings of the study showed that 38% of the participants were satisfied with their married life after the pre-marriage disclosure of the diagnosis, whereas only 12% who had concealed were contented with their married life. Married epileptic women of both groups, i.e. those who disclosed or concealed their epileptic disorder prior to marriage, suffered deleterious consequences in the marital lives, including lack of support from the husband, restriction to attend social gatherings, physical harm by the husband, verbal abuse by the husband, forced to leave home, use of silence by the husband to express rejection, and inappropriate behavior by the in-laws.