Abstracts

Rationale: To determine the incidence of accidental injuries in patients with epilepsy and generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the association between injuries and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Methods: Observational, cross-sectional, multicenter, single-visit study in patients with epilepsy and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures and/or secondarily generalized focal seizures.The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital Universitari Vall d´Hebron. All patients gave written informed consent.Demographic and clinical data and type and severity of injuries were recorded. Patient HRQoL was assessed using the QOLIE-10 instrument. Results: In total, 210 patients were included. Mean age was 42.0 (14-87) years and 45.2% were women. Onset of seizures: 27.8 (0-83) years. Seizures: primary tonic-clonic (69.5%), partial with secondary generalization (30.5%), complex partial (24.3%), simple partial (11.4%), absences (10.5%), myoclonic (9.0%). Etiology: idiopathic or genetic (65.7%), stroke (11.9%), traumatic brain injury (5.2%). Number of seizures in previous 12 months: 1 (45.7%), 2-5 (41.0%), >5 (13.3%).In total, 53.8% of patients had experienced an accidental injury associated with tonic-clonic seizures in the previous 12 months, the most common being head injuries (62.8%), burns (12.4%), and fractures (5.3%) (Table 1).Patients with injuries had a lower HRQoL than patients without injuries, both in mean overall QOLIE-10 score (64.1 vs 71.6; p=0.0038; total: 67.6±18.8), and in the mental health and social function dimensions (56.9 vs 66.7; p=0.0008; 64.8 vs 73.3; 0.0058, respectively) (Table 2). Conclusions: Tonic-clonic seizures in patients with epilepsy are associated with a high prevalence of accidental injuries, resulting in a significantly poorer HRQoL. Funding: Laboratorios Esteve, SA