Quality of life and the self-perception impact of epilepsy in three different epilepsy types (original) (raw)

QUALITY OF LIFE OF ADULTS WITH EPILEPSY: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS (Atena Editora)

QUALITY OF LIFE OF ADULTS WITH EPILEPSY: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS (Atena Editora), 2024

INTRODUCTION: Epilepsy is the most prevalent chronic neurological disease in the world. Treatment is initially pharmacological through anti-epileptic drugs, which include anticonvulsants. The disease negatively impacts quality of life (QoL), and there are standardized scales to measure QoL in Epilepsy, such as QOLIE-31. However, the concept of quality of life is broad and it is necessary to objectively assess which areas of well-being are most impacted by the disease. OBJECTIVES: to describe the quality of life of patients with epilepsy under clinical treatment. METHOD: descriptive study, carried out through review of medical records and application of the internationally validated QOLIE-31 questionnaire. It took place from June 2021 to June 2022 in patients over 18 years of age diagnosed with epilepsy. RESULTS: Seventeen patients participated in the study, 10 men (58.8%) and 7 women, of different ages (the youngest in the 18-29 age group, and the oldest over 70 years old). The responses to the questionnaire were interpreted using the QOLIE-31 formula, which transformed the subjective responses into scores from 0 (worst QLV) to 100 (best possible QLV), divided into 7 parameters - sociability, calmness during seizures, energy, general quality of life, cognitive function, emotional well-being and adaptation to medication. Each parameter evaluated in the questionnaire had its mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum and median calculated. DISCUSSION: the means of the 7 QOLIE-31 scores demonstrate that the factor with the worst influence on the quality of life of patients with epilepsy is the lack of calmness in having seizures - which is the result of social stigma, insecurity about getting hurt and constant fear of having seizures. The best factor evaluated was the general quality of life, which covered responses that did not depend exclusively on epilepsy. Thus, it can be seen that despite the disease, the patient can present well-being in other areas of life. The other areas evaluated obtained intermediate scores, with averages ranging from 59.5 to 65.4 out of 100 possible points. CONCLUSION: the lack of tranquility in having seizures is the worst factor in the QoL of the patient with epilepsy. The care team must address this fear during consultations, in order to train the patient on how to act in the event of a seizure and thus reduce the negative impact of seizures on their QoL.

Quality of Life in Epilepsy: A Study of Brazilian Adolescents

Objective: Our objectives were: to assess the QOL of Brazilian adolescents with epilepsy with a specific QOL assessment tool; to compare the adolescents with epilepsy and healthy adolescents using a generic QOL assessment tool; to correlate the 2 different QOL assessment tools (the generic and the epilepsy-specific); and to correlate QOL scores of the adolescents with epilepsy obtained by both tools with physical, psychological and social variables of the disease. Methods: Fifty subjects (case group) attending the outpatient clinic of epilepsy of the Clinics Hospital of UNICAMP, Campinas-SP, answered the Brazilian version of the QOL inventory for adolescents with epilepsy-QOLIE-AD-48 and the QOL Questionnaire-WHOQOL – BREF – Portuguese version. Fifty-one subjects (control group) from public schools in Campinas-SP answered only the WHOQOL-BREF. Results: The results showed that adolescents with epilepsy presented a good score of QOL in both tools; overall scores for both groups with WHOQOL-BREF were good, but a statistically significant difference was seen with regards to the Psychological domain of the WHOQOL-BREF favoring the control group. Significant correlations between QOLIE-AD-48 Total and WHOQOL domains were found. Adolescents that were considered seizure-free (P = 0.001), had good perception of seizure control (P = 0.012) and had not had occurrence of seizures in public places (P = 0.001) presented better QOL scores. Conclusions: Brazilian adolescents with epilepsy may present good QOL scores when they themselves consider the disease as under control; physical, social and especially psychological variables associated to the disease may play an important role in these results. As a generic QOL tool, WHOQOL-BREF was sufficient to allow for a comparison between chronic disease bearers and healthy adolescents and showed that the gap in QOL between both populations is not as extensive as once was thought, probably due to better support and adaptation to the disease.

Correlation between Seizure Characteristics and Quality of Life in Epilepsy Patients

Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorder and characterized by recurrent seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Epilepsy is both a medical diagnosis and a social label that can negatively impact quality of life (QoL). Aims and Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between characteristics of seizure and QoL among epilepsy patients. Materials and Methods: This is a case series study conducted at Bethesda Hospital, Yogyakarta. Subjects answer 8 questions in the SF-8 questionnaire by choosing one from several alternative answers. Sub-scale assessed in this questionnaire including general health perception (GH), physical functioning (PF), physical role functioning (RP), bodily pain (BP), vitality (VT), social role function (SF), mental health (MH), and emotional role functioning (RE). Each answer will be score and processed in a program from Optum™. The final results will be summarized into physical component (PCS) and mental component (MCS). Results: Total of the subjects were 27. Subjects were dominated by male, age< 60 years. The highest score is on the bodily pain subscale (mean: 50.00 ± 8.0739), wherease the lowest score is on global health perception (mean: 43.95 ± 7.1970). Overall, subjects in this study have a better mental status than physical

A Study of Health Related Quality of Life in Patients with Epilepsy

International Journal of Scientific Research, 2012

Introduction: Epilepsy is a chronic disease that affects the quality of life (QoL) of adolescent patients. The objective of the study was to determine the QoL related to health in adolescent patients with epilepsy treated at the Federico Gómez Children's Hospital of Mexico using the QoL impact in epilepsy adolescents (QOLIE-AD-48) scale application. Materials and methods: An observational, descriptive, and transversal study was carried out. Adolescent patients with a diagnosis of epilepsy and specific characteristics obtained by non-random convenience were evaluated. A questionnaire with socio-demographic data and the QOLIE-AD-48 questionnaire were applied. Results: We obtained 35 participants, 51.5% male, with an average age of 14.2 years ± 1.4 (standard deviation), the average duration of 4.7 years. Regarding schooling, 13% of participants have failed a grade level. About 11.4% do not attend school. Epileptic seizures were classified as focal (71.4%) and generalized (28.6%). The largest number of cases was in monotherapy in 68.6%, and the most common drugs are valproic acid (39.4%) and levetiracetam (27.3%). The QOLIE-AD-48 score was 65.20. The most affected domains, according to gender were: attitude toward epilepsy and physical functioning, for female and male, respectively. Overall, the lowest scores are attitudes toward epilepsy and health perception. Conclusions: Despite adequate control of seizures, the QoL related to the health of adolescents with epilepsy is regular. This suggests that not only the crisis and the number of them influence the external environment of adolescents but also that other factors can be included in the overall well-being.

Validity and reliability of the Portuguese–Brazilian version of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory–89

Epilepsy & Behavior, 2009

Objective: The purpose of this article was to report the translation of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-89 (QOLIE-89) into a Portuguese-Brazilian version and evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods: This study involved 105 outpatients: 54 patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) and 51 with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Reliability and testretest reliability were assessed. Relationships between QOLIE-89 domains and other questionnaires (Nottingham Health Profile, Beck Depression Inventory, Adverse Event Profile, Neuropsychological Evaluation), and external measures such as demographic and clinical variables were analyzed to examine construct validity. Results: Internal consistency (Cronbach's a = 0.73-0.92) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.60-0.84) for individual domains were acceptable. For construct validity, we verified high correlations between the QOLIE-89 and the Nottingham Health Profile, Beck Depression Inventory, Adverse Event Profile, and Neuropsychological Evaluation. For clinical characteristics, the patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy had better quality-of-life scores on 11 of 17 QOLIE-89 subscales compared with patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (P < 0.05). Conclusion: These results support the reliability and validity of the Portuguese-Brazilian translation of QOLIE-89.

Assessment of quality of life in patients with epilepsy

HVM Bioflux, 2013

Patients with epilepsy have a higher risk regarding low quality of life. Objective: to determine the impact of different clinical and demographic factor upon the quality of life. Material and methods: the study group was comprised by 113 patients diagnosed with epilepsy, evaluated between 01.03.2008 and 31.03.2010 in Neurology Clinic from Cluj-Napoca. All patients filled the quality of life in epilepsy-QQLIE 31. Results: age was negatively correlated with almost all QQLIE items (p<0.05). Patient's sex and marital status did not influenced patients' quality of life (p>0.05). The employment and economic status were correlated with almost all QQLIE items (p<0.05). The quality of life was negatively correlated with disease duration (p<0.05). The frequency of epileptic seizures independently affected the quality of life (p<0.05), but the type of epileptic seizures and etiology of epilepsy did not it (p>0.05).

The effect of seizure severity on quality of life in epilepsy

Epilepsy & Behavior, 2007

Seizure severity is an important aspect of epilepsy. The relationship between seizure severity and quality of life in epilepsy, however, has been incompletely explored. With a data set of 118 women from the baseline phase of a clinical treatment trial, the relationship between seizure severity and aspects of quality of life was evaluated. Two domains of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) correlated highly significantly with seizure severity: Seizure Worry (r = À0.265, P = .004) and Social Functioning (r = À0.280, P = 0.002). Two additional domains were significantly correlated: Overall Quality of Life (r = À0.210, P = 0.023) and Cognitive (r = À0.209, P = 0.024). When the potentially confounding effect of depression, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory, was controlled for, the regression of seizure severity with QOLIE-31 Seizure Worry remained significant (P = 0.006, R 2 = 0.153), as did the regression with QOLIE-31 Social Functioning (P = 0.002, R 2 = 0.184) and the regression with QOLIE-31 Cognitive (P = 0.037, R 2 = 0.30). These findings indicate that severe and potentially injurious seizure behaviors contribute to anxiety and socially avoidant behavior for persons with intractable epilepsy.

The effects of epileptic seizures upon quality of life

Journal of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, 2009

Objective: understand the psychological considerations of the relationship between the effect of seizures upon the patients' perception of seizure control, depression, anxiety and quality of life (QoL). Methods: 151 adult patients with epilepsy diagnosed for over two years were interviewed and responded the 31-Item Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-31), the Trait Form of the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI II) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: 45 patients were depressed (29.8%) and 29 (19.2%) had anxiety. Depression scores ranged from 0 to 49 (M=7.4; SD=8.9) and anxiety scores ranged from 19 to 69 (M=41.5, SD=11.9). Total QoL score was correlated to seizure control (p<0.001), perception of epilepsy control (p<0.001), anxiety (p<0.001), and depression (p=0.003). The perception of epilepsy control was correlated to seizure control (p<0.001), seizure frequency (p=0.001), anxiety (p<0.001) and depression (p<0.001). Seizure control was associated to anxiety (p=0.033) and depression (p<0.001). There was co-morbidity between anxiety and depression (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of the seizure frequency and control to the evaluation of perception of epilepsy control and shows that anxiety and depression in epilepsy are predicted by seizure-related (seizure frequency and control) and psychosocial aspects (perception of control and QoL) together.