Psychosocial impact of epileptic seizures in a Dutch epilepsy population: a comparative Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory study.

PURPOSE

The psychosocial functioning of epilepsy patients from the Netherlands was investigated and compared with results from other countries. The impact of epilepsy was also studied in two different groups of Dutch epilepsy patients, inpatients and outpatients.

METHODS

The Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory (WPSI) was used to study the psychosocial problems of 134 Dutch outpatients and 181 Dutch inpatients. WPSI profiles were compared with those from the former German Democratic Republic (West Germany), Finland, Canada, the United States, Chile, and Japan.

RESULTS

For the Dutch epilepsy patients, most of the psychosocial problems were experienced by inpatients; they had serious problems in emotional, interpersonal, and vocational adjustment, adjustment to seizures, and overall psychosocial functioning. Seizure-free outpatients, however, experienced significant problems only in the emotional adjustment area. Comparing the outcomes of various countries, Dutch outpatients and patients from West Germany and Finland experienced the least psychosocial difficulties, whereas epilepsy patients from Chile, Japan, and Canada have serious problems in most areas of psychosocial functioning.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with epilepsy experience psychosocial problems, although the amount of psychosocial difficulties depends on the seizure frequency and the culture that patients live in.