Health-related quality of life and self-perceived competence of children assessed before and up to two years after epilepsy surgery.

PURPOSE

To measure outcome of epilepsy surgery in terms of health-related quality of life (HrQoL) and self-perceived competence of children and adolescents.

METHODS

Prospective longitudinal follow-up study of 21 patients (aged 6.2 to 16.8 years). Frequency and severity of seizures and epilepsy-related restrictions, HrQoL, and self-perceived competence were rated before and 6, 12, and 24 months after epilepsy surgery. Data were analysed nonparametrically and using analysis of variance for repeated measures.

RESULTS

Group-wise, seizure parameters had almost normalized 6 months after surgery (p<0.001) and remained so. Two years after surgery, 15 (72%) patients were free of seizures. At the first postsurgical assessment, parents and children evaluated the frequency of activities as improved and that of seizures as diminished (p<0.05). Parents evaluated their children as having positive emotions more frequently (p<0.05). Children started to feel better about seizure variables in the second year after surgery. Two years after surgery, children perceived themselves as being socially more competent and having greater self-worth (p=0.05). In the adolescent group, several aspects of self-perceived competence improved shortly after surgery (p<0.05), whereas 2 years after surgery, athletic competence and romance had improved (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In children and adolescents, epilepsy surgery sets the stage for improvement in HrQoL and in competence to participate in social and societal domains. Most improvement occurs in the first 6 months after surgery.