Quality of life in people with epilepsy

A cross-sectional German study including 476 people with epilepsy evaluated the determinants of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with epilepsy.¹ Study findings showed that factors predictive of a significantly reduced HRQoL in people with epilepsy included high disease burden (specifically, high seizure frequency, poor tolerability of antiseizure medication, comorbid depression and worry about new seizures; p≤0.001 for all), and stigma (p=0.027).¹

However, the type of epilepsy syndrome, duration of epilepsy and total length of hospitalization in the previous 3 months were not significantly correlated with a reduced HRQoL, suggesting that the chronicity of epilepsy is not necessarily associated with a reduced quality of life.¹

References:

1.Siebenbrodt Willems LM, von Podewils F, et al. Determinants of quality of life in adults with epilepsy: a multicenter, cross-sectional study from Germany. Neurol Res Pract 2023; 5: 41.

2.Mlinar S, Petek D, Cotič Ž, et al. Persons with epilepsy: between social inclusion and marginalisation. Behav Neurol 2016; 2016: 2018509.

3.Sillanpää M, Schmidt D. Long-term employment of adults with childhood-onset epilepsy: a prospective population-based study. Epilepsia 2010; 51 (6): 1053–1060.

4.Obiako OR, Sheikh TL, Kehinde JA, et al. Factors affecting epilepsy treatment outcomes in Nigeria. Acta Neurol Scand 2014; 130 (6): 360–367.