engleski

Quality of life in patients with epilepsy – single centre experience

A prospective study was carried out in University Hospital Centre Zagreb to evaluate the relationship between epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and quality of life (QoL) of patients with epilepsy (PE) and its association with the depressive symptoms and sexual dysfunction (SD). Quality of life in epilepsy-31 inventory (QOLIE-31) was used for evaluating QoL, Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) for SD and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM- D17). 108 PE were included (63% women, 37% men ; mean age 39.54±15.91 years). 14.8% of patients had focal, 35.2% generalised and 40.7% both types of epilepsy. 44/108 patients had drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) and in 27/44 vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was implanted. Mean response on QOLIE-31 was 62.88±17.21 with no significant differences regarding gender, type of epilepsy and age. Statistically significantly lower QoL was found in the domain ‘Overall QoL’ (age group 35-55 years vs. <35). Patients taking both types of AEDs had significantly lower QOL compared to those on newer types of AEDs. Higher QoL is associated with less pronounced depressive symptoms (p=0.000). Significant correlations were found between the lower QoL and SD (p=0.001). Positive influence on the QoL and mood following VNS implantation in 27 patients with DRE and VNS was found compared to 18 patients without VNS (p=0.041).

epilepsy ; quality of life ; antiepileptic drugs ; QOLIE-31 ; drug-resistant epilepsy ; vagus nerve stimulation

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