Health literacy and rational drug use attitudes in parents of children with epilepsy

•Higher health literacy is associated with more responsible medication practices.•Socioeconomic factors influence health literacy and attitudes towards rational drug use.•Most parents refrained from using medication not prescribed. Understanding parental attitudes and health literacy is crucial for promoting safe and effective medication use, which is pivotal in managing epilepsy, a condition requiring consistent and informed treatment decisions. So, this study aimed to determine the impact of health literacy among parents of children with epilepsy on their attitudes towards rational drug use. This study, conducted at a university hospital’s Child Neurology Outpatient Clinic in Konya, Turkey from May to December 2023, employed a descriptive research design involving 234 parents of children with epilepsy who attended routine check-ups during this period. Data collection utilized a Demographic Information Form, the Parental Attitude Scale towards Rational Drug Use, and the Health Literacy Scale, analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics Standard Concurrent User V 25. Analytical methods included descriptive statistics (number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, maximum), as well as One-Way ANOVA, Independent-Sample T Test, Correlation, and Linear Regression (Enter method), with statistical significance set at p