Health related quality of life in patients admitted for video-electroencephalography monitoring diagnosed with epilepsy or psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

OBJECTIVE To determine the health related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with epilepsy or psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). METHODS This cross-sectional study was carried out between December 2010 and December 2014 in the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey. Patients who were admitted for video-electroencephalography monitoring and diagnosed of epileptic seizures or PNES were asked to complete a questionnaire from the World Health Organization Quality of Life, and psychiatric comorbidities were diagnosed using the structured clinical interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition. RESULTS Patients with epilepsy and PNES were found to have similar HRQOL in physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains. However, the percentage of comorbid psychiatric disorders were higher in patients with PNES than patients with epilepsy. CONCLUSION Patients with epilepsy and PNES have similar HRQOL, and PNES are resistant to the standard medical therapies used for the treatment of epileptic seizures. The direct lifetime cost of undiagnosed PNES may be of equal with intractable epilepsy. A better understanding of the impact of PNES manifestations and epilepsy would help to provide appropriate clinical, psychological and social care.