Qualidade de vida em pacientes com epilepsia

Abstract

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that affects the quality of life, especially in it?s critical periods, when the disease disadvantage life?s cultural, personal and social aspects as well as family relationships. This study analyzed the quality of life in epileptic patients (QV) related to different issues: social, physical and emotional, all of them correlated to the disease and individual variables: the perception of seizure control. Patients from the outpatient?s clinic of Hospital de Base and those identified in the community of S?o Jos? do Rio Preto were compared. 165 patients diagnosed with epilepsy were evaluated by Quality of Life 65 Questionnaire (QQV-65). 87 female and 78 male, from the ambulatory service of Hospital de Base (N=105) and patients from the community (N=-60) of S?o Jos? do Rio Preto city. Their ages ranged between 18 and 75 years old (mean = 41.28; standard deviation = 13.26). The study showed significant associations between age and final quality of life (p-value = 0.003) as well as education and final quality of life (p-value = 0.001). There was significant relation between perception and seizure control and all the aspects of QV: total range of QV (value p - p=0.000), health (value - p=0.000), physical aspects (value - p=0.000), social aspects (value - p=0.003), locus of control (value - p=0.000), self-concept (valor - p=0.025), emotional aspects (valor - p=0.000) and cognitive aspects (value - p=0.009). There was no correlation between patients' origin (ambulatory or outpatients? clinic) and the final quality of life and its aspects (health, physical, cognitive, emotional, self-concept and locus of control).