Quality of life in patients with epilepsy – single centre experience

Abstract

to evaluate the relationship between epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and quality of life (QoL) in patients with epilepsy (PE), and its association with depressive symptoms and sexual dysfunction (SD). QoL was assessed by use of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 Inventory (QOLIE-31), SD by the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX), and depressive symptoms by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D17). The study included 108 PE (women 63% and men 37% men), mean age 39.54±15.91 years. Focal type epilepsy was diagnosed in 14.8%, generalized type in 35.2%, and both types were present in 40.7% of study patients. Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) was present in 44/108 and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was implanted in 27/44 patients. The mean response on QOLIE-31 was 62.88±17.21 with no significant differences according to gender, type of epilepsy, and age. A statistically significantly lower QoL was found in the 'Overall QoL' domain (35-55 vs. <35 age group). Patients taking both types of AEDs had a significantly lower QoL compared to those on newer types of AEDs. Higher QoL was associated with less pronounced depressive symptoms (p=0.000). Significant correlations were found between lower QoL and SD (p=0.001). In 27 patients with DRE having undergone VNS, a favorable effect of VNS implantation on the QoL and mood was observed as compared with 18 patients without VNS (p=0.041).

Influence of Clinical Factors on the Quality of Life in Romanian People with Epilepsy—A Follow-Up Study in Real-Life Clinical Practice

“…At baseline and follow-up, higher seizure frequency predicted lower QOLIE-31-P TS in accordance with other studies where high frequency of seizures was a significant predictor of poorer QOL [4,7,9,19]. At follow-up, the number of controlled patients with no seizures in the last year was higher, and the better control of seizures was correlated with an increase in QOLIE-31-P TS and improved perception.…”

“…The level of QOL is negatively correlated with the frequency of seizures in most studies [3][4][5][6]. There are numerous clinical factors reported by other authors that have an impact on the QOL, such as the duration of the disease [7], the age of onset [8], the type of seizures [9] or the number of anti-seizure medications (ASM) [10]; however, the determining role of these variables differs between countries.…”