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03-Aug-2018
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Arch Hellen Med, 35(4), July-August 2018, 481-489 ORIGINAL PAPER Quality of life of adult patients with epilepsy M. Sarris,1 S. Soulis,1 G. Pierrakos,1 A. Goula,1 A. Petrakos,2 V. Gkioka,3 I. Nikolados,1 K. Speis,1 D. Latsou1 |
OBJECTIVE Investigation of the quality of life (QoL) of adult patients with epilepsy under medical and nursing supervision.
METHOD Descriptive correlational study of 37 adult patients who had experienced at least one epileptic episode during their lives. The study was conducted in Athens at the Epilepsy Clinic of the First University Neurology Clinic of the "Εginitio" Hospital. The QoL of the patients was evaluated using the Greek version of QOLIE-89.
RESULTS The majority of the participants (59.5%) were women, 56.8% had completed secondary education and 46.0% were working at home or were unemployed. The most common type of seizures recorded was simple partial seizures, experienced by 59.5% of the participants. High scores were recorded on all the subscales of the questionnaire, indicating a high level of QoL, and significant positive correlation was observed between the subscales. None of the individual characteristics of the participants nor items on their medical history was found significantly associated with the overall QoL, as measured by the questionnaire (p>0.05).
CONCLUSIONS The level of QoL of the people with epilepsy in the present study was found to be high, and not related to their individual characteristics or medical history. A better understanding by clinicians of the degree of the life satisfaction of patients with epilepsy will lead to the continuous improvement of the treatment provided for these individuals. It is recommended that further studies on QoL and the factors affecting it be carried out with patients with epilepsy.
Key words: Drug resistant epilepsy, Intractable epilepsy, Quality of life, QOLIE-89, Refractory epilepsy.
