engleski

Quality of life in patients with epilepsy – experience from a tertiary epilepsy centre in Croatia

Background and aims: Many factors influence quality of life (QoL) of patients with epilepsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and QoL. Methods: Quality of life in epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) was used for evaluation of QoL, Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) for SD and Hamilton Rating Scale for depression (HAM-D17). Results: 108 patients with epilepsy were enrolled (68 (63%) women, 40 (37%) men ; mean age 39.54±15.91 ; 16 (14.8%) focal, 38 (35.2%) generalized and 44 (40.7%) combined type of epilepsy). Mean result on QOLIE-31 was 62.88±17.21 (women 63.31±16.51, men 62.18±18.51). No significant differences were found regarding gender, type of epilepsy and age, except in regard to the domain ‘Overall QoL’, where the age group 35-55 years was found to have statistically significantly lower QoL in comparison to those younger than 35 years. Patients taking both types of AEDs were found to have significantly lower QoL compared to those on newer AEDs. Lower QoL was found to be associated with more pronounced symptoms of SD (r=- 0.34, p=0.001) and depression (r=-0.71, p=0.000). Out of 44 patients with drug- resistant epilepsy, 27 were treated with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), with statistically significant differences found between the 2 groups (p=0.041). Conclusion: Patients with epilepsy taking both types of AEDs were found to have lower QoL in comparison to those on newer AEDs. Furthermore, QoL and mood were found to improve following VNS implantation in patientswith drug-resistant epilepsy.

quality of life ; epilepsy ; Croatia

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