Impact of epileptic patient's knowledge level on their quality of life

Abstract

Background and objective: Inadequate epileptic patient’s knowledge regarding their disorder may affect the quality of their life. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of epileptic patient’s knowledge on the quality of their life.

Methods: Research design: a descriptive study was conducted in the period from February to April 2017 to determine the impact of epileptic patient's knowledge on the quality of their life. Setting; this study was carried out in the neurology department and neurology outpatient clinic of Assiut Neurology University Hospital. Patients; a sample of sixty epileptic male and female patients, with an age range between 18 to 65 years was included. Two tools were used: Tool I: Structured patient interview questionnaire sheet and it included two parts: Part one: Sociodemographic data about of the studied patients, Part two: knowledge assessment regarding their disorder using Epilepsy Patient Knowledge Questionnaire (EPKQ). Tool II: Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE 31).

Results: The highest percentage of the studied sample was male, married, their mean age was 38.97 ± 11.21, and their duration of epilepsy was 16.82 ± 9.7. 58.3% were having satisfactory level of knowledge regarding their condition.

Conclusions and recommendation: The present study concluded that: epileptic patients are lacking knowledge regarding their condition (58.3% vs. 41.7%). There was No significant correlation between total QOL and score of knowledge. Recommendation: A self-management program is needed for patients with epilepsy in order to improve their knowledge regarding their disease.