Abstracts

Rationale: Epilepsy is a chronic medical condition with many comorbid features. It has been observed that children with epilepsy (CWE) have a compromised quality of life (QOL). Objective: to assess the QOL in CWE and to study the various factors affecting QOL among CWE. Methods: The study was conducted at King Fahd Specialist Hospital Dammam from February 2018 to October 2018.The sample consisted of 70 CWE aged 2 month–16 years of either sex. QOL was measured by Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy (QOLCE) questionnaire, an 89-item, parent-reported questionnaire, it was translated to Arabic. Pearson correlation to determine construct validity. The t-test and analysis of variance were used to compare mean QOLCE scores.Inclusion criteriaEpilepsy was defined as presence of two or more unprovoked seizures. Children aged between 2 months and 16 years with minimum duration of epilepsy of 6 months were the cases.Exclusion criteriaChildren with chronic medical conditions (asthma, hypertension, chronic renal failure (CRF), chronic lung disease (CLD), thalassemia, hypothyroidism, etc.) were excluded. Results: Factors affecting QOL included age, place of residence, socioeconomic condition, maternal education, seizure type and frequency and number of antiepileptic drugs. Conclusions: CWE have a relatively compromised QOL and comprehensive care needs to go beyond the attempt of controlling seizures. Funding: None