Objective: To determine factors associated with quality of life (QOL) in epileptics and the variations between men and women, younger and older people.
Methods: A total of 204 patients (160 younger, 49 older; 125 men, 79 women) were interviewed by the quality of life in epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31), side effect profile (SEP), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD). Medical and socio-demographic data were acquired from patient records. Multivariate linear regressive analyses were used to determine the set of best predictors of composite QOLIE-31 score.
Results: No statistical difference was revealed in QOLIE-31 overall score either between younger and older patients or between men and women. Among all patients, regressive analyses revealed that SEP (beta = - 0.395, P = 0.000) and SAS (beta = -0.152, P = 0.016) were two strong predictors of QOLIE-31 overall score. Grouped by gender, among men, epilepsy duration (beta = -0.165, P = 0.028) and seizure frequency (beta = -0.284, P = 0.001) respectively associated with QOLIE-31 overall score and "social function" score while the number of AEDs (antiepileptic drugs) substantially correlated with QOLIE-31 overall score among women (beta= -0.238, P = 0.006). Grouped by ages, seizure frequency (beta = -0.284, P = 0.000) and education level (beta = 0.203, P = 0.005) predicted QOLIE-31 "social function" score only among younger patients; among older patients, a significant association were found between the number of AEDs and QOLIE-31 overall score (beta = - 0.363, P = 0.004).
Conclusion: Side effects of AEDs and number of AEDs exert greater effect on QOL in women and older patients. And such seizure-related variables as epileptic duration and seizure frequency influence QOL only among men and younger patients.