Correlates of quality of life with epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the quality of life of children with epilepsy and to identify the demographic, disease related, and behavioral and emotional functioning variables in the prediction of quality of life of children with epilepsy.

METHOD

Forty three children aged 4 to 15 years (Mean=10.3 years) with epilepsy were recruited from the outpatient services of the Department of Pediatrics, of a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India. Quality of life was measured by Impact of Epilepsy Schedule, a 39 items parent reported questionnaire and child's emotional and behavioral functioning at home was assessed by the Childhood Psychopathology Measurement Schedule.

RESULTS

Majority of the parents expressed major concerns regarding seizures, treatment by anticonvulsants, present and future problems for the child and problems in parenting. Nearly 40% of the children had psychopathology scores in the clinically significant maladjustment range. Step-wise multiple regression analysis revealed that the psychopathology scores and mother's education accounted for 39% of the variance in the quality of life scores.

CONCLUSION

Children with epilepsy have a relatively compromised quality of life and focusing simply on control of seizures may not address the full range of child's emotional and behavioral difficulties.