Abstracts

Seizure control in epilepsy has been thought to be the primary goal for both patients and clinicians. However, practitioners may not be fully aware of what goals epilepsy patients truly wish to attain. We surveyed epilepsy patients in our clinic and asked them to list their primary goal for treatment of their epilepsy. We also considered how treatment regimen and seizure frequency may influence a patient[apos]s goals. We surveyed 48 patients in our Epilepsy Clinic at the University of North Carolina and asked them to list their primary goal for their epilepsy treatment, the number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) they used, and their seizure frequency. Forty-eight patients with a mean age of 41.3 years completed the survey and 32 were female. The subjects averaged taking 2 antiepileptic drugs and had an average seizure frequency of one seizure per month. We grouped the patients by number of AEDs used and seizure frequency. We found that patients who were using two or more antiepileptic drugs were more likely to list seizure control as their primary goal for treatment. Only 19% of patients taking one AED listed seizure control as their primary goal, but 75% of patients taking two AEDs listed seizure control as their goal and 93% of patients taking three AEDs listed seizure control as their goal. Additionally, patients that had a higher seizure frequency were also more likely to list seizure control as their primary goal for treatment. When looking at seizure frequency, 69% of patients who had more frequent seizures (seizures occurring at least once per month) listed seizure control as their primary goal for treatment. All of the patients (n = 4) who had more than one seizure per week, but less than one seizure per day, listed seizure control as their primary goal for treatment. Only 40% of patients who had been seizure-free for one year or longer listed seizure control as their primary treatment goal. In our study we found that most of our epilepsy patients listed seizure control as their primary treatment goal. However, we found that patients who were taking more antiepileptic medications and had a higher seizure frequency were most likely to list seizure control as their primary goal. This may indicate that patients are willing to use more than one AED for seizure control despite the risk of an increase in side effects from the combination of medications. Additionally, we found that patients who were using one AED and had fewer seizures were least likely to list seizure control as their primary goal for treatment. This highlights the importance of communication between patients who have seizures and the practitioners who treat them to establish a treatment plan that can insure compliance from the patient, especially if the patient has refractory seizures.