To identify the availability of quality education about epilepsy in Spanish on the internet.

ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉú of epilepsy patients and their families is important for seizure control and quality of life.

We performed online searches using the Google, Yahoo, Bing engines. Search terms used (in Spanish) were “epilepsy”, “epilepsy + patients”, “epilepsy + education” and “seizures”, and all these same terms in Spansih. Inclusion criteria were: The webpage provides medical and scientific information about any aspect of epilepsy in Spanish. The webpage is managed by a medical, professional, or academic institution or by a patient or professional association. Exclusion criteria were: The webpage has less than 100 words and material can’t be accessed or duplicated. The webpage is managed by an individual or a commercial company. Aspects analyzed were: Components in content (definition, etiology, diagnosis, treatment, social aspects, education aspects, psychological aspects, employment, lifestyle and other aspects, family and other relationships, seizure first aid), availability of videos, illustrations, downloadable material in PDF, books in PDF, material for children, types and activity on social media.

The search found 32 websites and 105 pages in Facebook, which had replications in other social media like Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The origin was especially from Spain, United States and Chile. Followers in social media ranged from 1,351 to 1,061,726. Most websites do not have videos or downloadable material. Many websites still use traditional concepts, outdated concepts, or show problems in the quality of their translations from English into Spanish. 

There is more use of social media than websites to deliver epilepsy education in Spanish, but there is an urgent need to improve the content and the quality and variety of audiovisual resources and design to better serve the needs of Spanish-speaking families with epilepsy.

UNITEC-Honduras and Epilepsy Foundation of America