Abstracts

Rationale:
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease. Effective self-management is vital for individuals with epilepsy to adapt their lifestyles and behaviors to accommodate the long-term nature of the disease. Recent research has shown that Internet-based education can enhance the management of chronic illnesses, including epilepsy. However, only one randomized controlled trial showed the effectiveness of web-based education in increasing self-management skills for people with epilepsy; other studies mostly lacked comparisons with control groups. Notably, most applications were developed in Western countries. This study utilized an assessor-blinded randomized controlled design to assess the effectiveness of an educational program in improving self-management skills and psychological factors in a limited-resource country.




Methods: The study was conducted at two sites: Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital and University Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City from September 2022 to December 2023. Participants were adults with epilepsy who attended the neurology outpatient clinics. The intervention group participated in an educational program while the control group was placed on a waiting list and did not receive any intervention. The program included Vietnamese web-based educational resources and an epilepsy application. The following self-management elements were included in the educational resources: knowledge about epilepsy, seizure first aid, safety, and lifestyle management. The participants used the application to record seizure occurrences and maintained a seizure diary for follow-ups. Participants were introduced to explore the educational content on the website. Participants were evaluated at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months follow-up. The primary outcomes measured were scores on the Vietnamese Epilepsy Self-Management Scale (V-ESMS) and its subscales. Secondary outcomes were seizure frequency, levels of depression and anxiety, and quality of life. Data were analyzed by comparing changes from baseline to the 3-month and 6-month follow-ups using paired-sample T-tests and repeated measures analysis.


Results: A total of 147 participants were assigned randomly to an intervention group (n=74) or a control group (n=73). The demographic and clinical characteristics of the two groups showed no significant difference. The intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in the mean V-ESMS score from baseline to the 3-month evaluation (from 131.33 ± 16.60 to 137.46 ± 16.92; p< 0.001), with significant improvements in the Information (p< 0.001) and Safety management subscales (p=0.005). No statistical differences were observed in the control group. This trend persisted at the 6-month follow-up. However, there were no significant changes in seizure frequency, anxiety, depression, or quality of life (QOLIE-31).





Conclusions:
The educational program proved effective in enhancing self-management scores among people with epilepsy, particularly in the information and safety management subscales. This highlights the potential of educational interventions to improve the self-management practices of individuals with epilepsy.




Funding: The authors did not receive funding from any organization for the submitted work.