ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the quality of life and the related factors in adult epilepsy patients in rural areas of Gansu province. Methods The Quality of Life in the Epilepsy-31 Inventory Chinese version (QOLIE-31) were used to evaluate the quality of life in 154 epilepsy patients and 149 healthy controls. The relationship of demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, profession and education, etc.) and clinical variables (age of onset, duration, type of seizures, seizure frequency and medication, etc.) with the quality of life were analyzed in patients. Results Compared with the con?trol group, the QOLIE-31 score was significantly lower in epileptic group [(47.63±7.74) vs. (52.28±5.75), P0.05). The differences of patients' QOLIE-31 score were significantly different between differ?ent incomes, medication types of epilepsy (P<0.05). The patient's family income (β=3.115, P=0.002) and the type of medi?cation (β=3.261, P=0.027) were factors affecting their quality of life. Conclusion The quality of life in adult patients with epilepsy is lower. Economic status of family and the number of drug type significantly affects the quality of life in patients. Reasonable drug choice to treat seizure and reduce the economic burden of the family are effective measures to improve the quality of life of patients with epilepsy.