| Popis: |
Epilepsy is a common neurological condition. It has an estimated annual incidence of between 20 and 50 per 100, 000 and an estimated prevalence, for active epilepsy of between 4 and 5 per 1000. As many as 70% of people with epilepsy will enter remission after commencing antiepileptic therapy. The primary goal of medicine has always been to try to improve the quality of patient’ s lives, either by curing them of their disease or ameliorating symptoms. Quality of life (QOL) is a much yet ill-defined term. Since QOL, is a personal experience any attempts to define, asses or measure, and/or impact the system to enhance QOL must involve the person for whom all this is directed, the individual with a seizure disorder. Just as one’ s experience of QOL, is unique, so too is one’ s experience with epilepsy. One of preferred solutions or the definition: QOL in people with epilepsy is an individual’ s perception of the impact of their condition and its treatment. I reflect the discrepancy between the person’ s actual and desired physical and psychological health, level of independence, and social relationships. Aim: To assess the applicability of a questionnaire for adolescents- QOLIE – AD – 48- in our population. At least 100 patients are needed for the interview. Method: The questionnaire consists of 48 items in eight subscales: epilepsy impact (12), memory/concentration (10), attitudes towards epilepsy (4), physical functioning (5), stigma (6), social support (4), school behaviour (4), health perceptions (3), and a total summary score, with higher scores reflecting better quality of life. We have interviewed 33 patients with epilepsy, during four months. Results: There were 9 males and 24 females in the group. The age range was from 7.5 years to 25 years. 19 patients had generalized epilepsy and 14 had partial epilepsy. None had convulsions in the previous year. Average number of antiepileptic drugs was 1.42 (from 1 to 4). Success in school was on the average 3.77 (from 2 to 5). Number of siblings: 3 had none, 16 had 1, 9 had 2, 1 had 3. Results of the questionnaire: epilepsy impact was 77.71, memory/concentration was 80.98, attitudes toward epilepsy 24.24, physical functioning 81.67, stigmatisation 75.68, social support 88.26, school behaviour 92.23, health perceptions 77.53. On the average our patients function well in the school, the only score being low is the attitude towards epilepsy. Conclusion: More data are needed for any firm conclusions, but the first results are promising, and the QOLIE – AD – 48 was well received by patients and the professionals equally. |
