Background: Anxiety symptoms may have significant implications on the quality of life of patients with epilepsy. The aim of our research is a comparative analysis of the quality of life, i.e., of the level of disability in patients with different forms of epilepsy.
Method: In this cross-sectional study, the sample consisted of three groups of 30 patients each--with recently diagnosed generalized epilepsy, temporal and extratemporal epilepsy. the anxiety level in these groups was compared with the control group of 30 healthy subjects. Beck anxiety inventory (Bai) was used for assessment of anxiety. level of functional disability due to anxiety was measured according to the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS).
Results: Patients with extratemporal epilepsy had the greatest level of functional disability, while patients with generalized epilepsies had the lowest average of scores on the Sheehan scale. the correlation between the Bai and the SDS was highly statistically significant.
Conclusions: Our results clearly indicate the need for a broader concept of therapy--neurological (antiepileptic therapy) and psychiatric (pharmaco-, psycho- and social therapy) when it comes to anxiety in patients with epilepsy.