Impact of epilepsy on QOL in a Portuguese population: exploratory study

Abstract

Objectives - To develop an outcome measure of QOL (quality of life) for the Portuguese population; describe QOL in Epileptics; analyse how QOL is affected by epilepsy and analyse how QOL is affected by patients' characteristics. Patients and methods - Study of a consecutive sample of 92 epileptics from an outpatient clinic, men and women, aged 15-65, having the basic education level. Firm diagnosis of epilepsy (with or without seizures) without other illness. A questionnaire based on ESI-55 and Health Insurance Experiment Short-Forms was used. Principal component analysis (orthogonal varimax) showed a solution explaining 55.6 of total variance. After the inspection, the 33 items were grouped into 5 sub-scales (dimensions). Results - Results showed that QOL was poor for people with partial seizures. The best scores were found on patients now free from seizures. Conclusion - The QOL measure is sensitive to cultural differences, demographic and disease variables which could explain the results found.