Quality of life in epileptic patients compared with healthy people

BACKGROUND Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder that has a great impact on people's lives. Patients with epilepsy are at increased risk for poor Quality of Life (QoL). The objective of this study was to evaluate the QoL of epileptic patients in comparison to healthy persons. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted on 52 epileptic patients from Golbu region in Neyshabur (a city in northeast of Iran). Using Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) scale, the data were collected between April and Jun 2012. Every patient were compared with two healthy persons. Epileptic and healthy persons were similar for age, sex and local residence. Pearson's correlation coefficient and t-independent test applied for data analysis through SPSS v. 16 software. RESULTS Of 52 epileptic patients, 24 were female (46.2%) and 28 were male (53.8%). The mean±SD age of epileptic patients was 40.92±20.33yr (Rang: 15-86yr). The total mean score of SF- 36 in patient group was 55.88 and in healthy group 68.52and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Among the different subscales of SF-36 in epileptic patients, the highest and the lowest mean scores were found for social functioning and general health subscales, respectively. The mean scores in patient group in comparison to healthy group were lower in all subscales of SF-36 and these differences were statistically significant in all domains (except role limitations due to physical problems domain and role limitations due to emotional problems domain). CONCLUSION The study showed that epilepsy disease has an important role in QoL of patients, thus some interventional programs are necessary to improve their QOL.