Background & Objective: Epilepsy has long been associated with stigma and misconceptions. In response, the Korean Epilepsy Society initiated the Epilepsy Renaming project in 2008 to replace the stigmatizing term with a neutral and scientifically grounded name, “cerebroelectric disorder”. This study explores the impact of changing terminology on the public discourse surrounding epilepsy. Methods: Online news articles from distinct time periods (2001–2003, 2011–2014, 2017–2018, and 2020–2022) were analyzed using text data analysis techniques, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling, frequency analysis, and sentiment analysis. The inclusion of data from 2017 to 2018 allowed for an examination of discourse trends independent of the COVID-19 pandemic's influence. Correlation of words in each period was visualized via network maps. Migraine was set as control term to highlight changes in perception devoid of significant stigma intervention efforts. Results: The analysis revealed a significant shift in terminology preference, with cerebroelectric disorder gradually replacing epilepsy in news articles. The discourse surrounding epilepsy evolved over time from focusing on healthcare and economic aspects to patient-centered discussions, emphasizing the daily lives of individuals with epilepsy. This shift towards more empathetic and less stigmatized language was contrasted against the discourse on migraine, highlighting the specific impact of the terminological change on epilepsy's perception. Conclusion: The adoption of the neutral term “cerebroelectric disorder” in South Korea has influenced the discourse surrounding epilepsy, leading to more patient-centered discussions and a reduction in stigma. This study highlights the importance of terminology in shaping public perceptions of diseases and suggests that changing terminology can positively impact the understanding and destigmatization of epilepsy.
Dr. Jun Young Choi was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korean government (MSIT; Ministry of Science and ICT) (NRF-2019R1A5A2026045 and NRF-2021R1F1A1061819) and a grant from the Korean Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (HR21C1003). Dr. Jun Young Choi was also supported by Bio-convergence Technology Education Program through the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Dr. Soon-Sun Kwon was supported by the Basic Science Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2021R1A6A1A10044950) and Institute of Information & communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) under the Artificial Intelligence Convergence Innovation Human Resources Development (RS-2023-00255968) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT).
