Study of inter-relationship of depression, seizure frequency and quality of life of people with epilepsy in India

Abstract

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that can have profound physical, social and psychological consequences. We aimed to assess the clinical predictors of quality of life of people with epilepsy. We recruited 31 patients suffering from epilepsy in this cross-sectional study. Their clinical profile was recorded. Quality Of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-31) was used to assess quality of life of our patients. Depression was screened by Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory in Epilepsy (NDDI-E). Among all the clinical variables, only seizure frequency significantly correlated with seizure worry (P=0.002), emotional well-being (P=0.026) and social functions (P=0.013) subscales of QOLIE-31. NDDIE score showed a significant negative correlation with all the subscales of QOLIE-31 except medication effects (P=0.993). A significant positive correlation was also noted between seizure frequency and NDDI-E score (r=0.417, P=0.020). Seizure frequency and depression are the most important predictors of quality of life in epilepsy patients. The management of patients with epilepsy should not only be aimed at just preventing seizures but the treating clinicians should also be cognizant about depression which itself can significantly affect the quality of life of patients.

Stigma and polytherapy: Predictors of quality of life in patients with epilepsy from South India

“…Various studies showed high and least scores in various subscales of QOLIE-31 such as highest in cognitive functioning and least score in energy fatigue;[ 19 ] highest in emotional well-being and least score in seizure worry;[ 20 ] highest in energy/fatigue and least score in overall QOL;[ 22 ] and highest in medication effects and least score in seizure worry. [ 23 ] With regard to medication effect, the present study is in agreement with earlier study. [ 23 ]…”

“…Earlier studies conducted on PWE in India using QOLIE-31 showed mean total QOL score ranging from 38.4 to 68. [ 19 20 21 22 23 ] In our study, mean total QOL score was 60.29 which was within the range of scores observed earlier and indicate good total QOL score. Various studies showed high and least scores in various subscales of QOLIE-31 such as highest in cognitive functioning and least score in energy fatigue;[ 19 ] highest in emotional well-being and least score in seizure worry;[ 20 ] highest in energy/fatigue and least score in overall QOL;[ 22 ] and highest in medication effects and least score in seizure worry.…”

“…Greater the score, better the QOL. QOL in epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) questionnaire has been validated in Marathi-,[ 19 20 ] Malayalam-,[ 21 ] Hindi-,[ 22 23 ] and Kannada-[ 24 ] speaking populations of India. Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient obtained for QOLIE-31 in the present study were 0.946 and 0.974, respectively, which indicated good internal consistency and reproducibility of the instrument for assessment of QOL for the population of the present study.…”

The sociodemographic, clinical and pharmacotherapy characteristics influencing quality of life in patients with epilepsy: A cross-sectional study

“…[ 22 ] However, the effect of individual AEDs on analysis did not have any statistically significant association with QOLIE score results similar to the study done by Mehtha et al . [ 23 ]…”

A Comprehensive Review on Comorbid Depression in Patients With Epilepsy

“…Epilepsy is one of the common neurological disorders that is seen worldwide [1]. Epilepsy, anxiety, and depression are related disorders.…”