Abstracts

OBJECTIVE: At the end of this activity, participants should be able to discuss changes in quality of life of pediatric patients receiving vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) Therapy.
RATIONALE: Physicians treating patients with VNS Therapy for refractory seizures have noted improvements of varying degrees in patient quality of life. Our goal was to determine whether standardized tests administered to pediatric patients receiving VNS therapy would reflect such improvements.
METHODS: We administered the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) by JW Varni and the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) by CR Reynolds and RW Kamphaus to pediatric patients with medically refractory seizures before they received VNS Therapy and after 3 months of treatment. The patient[ssquote]s parent or guardian completed questionnaires tailored for parents. Results between time points and between parent and child were compared. Increased scores on the PedsQL 4.0 were considered to indicate improvement.
RESULTS: Results were available at both time points for four parents and three patients. One severely impaired patient was unable to complete the forms. PedsQL: physical function scores from patients, median change in was +6 (range, [ndash]19 to +6); from parents, +19 (-3 to 69). Median change in psychosocial health summary score from patients was +3 (-34 to 32); from parents, 84 (20 to 109). BASC scores showed a tendency toward improvement, especially as rated by the parents.
CONCLUSIONS: Results of the PedsQL, similar to the BASC, showed a tendency toward improvement. We expect that test results from a greater number of patients and parents and over a greater period of time will provide a clearer picture of the effects of VNS Therapy on health-related quality of life in children.
[Supported by: Cyberonics Inc.]; (Disclosure: Grant - Research grant to study use of VNS in this project., Equity - family owned stock of less than $50,000. Now less than $5,000., Honoraria - Various honoraria for speaking)