RESUMO
PURPOSE: Patients with epilepsy experience the impairment of Quality of life (QOL). The objective of this study was to investigate the 'Quality of Life' in epileptic patients and the influences of clinical factors upon QOL in epileptic patients. METHODS: Total 138 epileptic patients (male : 77, female : 61) were recruited for the study. The Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE)-89 was applied to evaluate QOL in epileptic patients. We gathered data about clinical variables (seizure type, frequency, duration of disease, number of antiepileptic drug, and depression) and socio-demographic variables (age, sex, marriage, employment, and education), and compared each variables in use of QOLIE-89 score. RESULTS: Depression influenced negatively the most of all subscales (16 of 20 subscales) and overall score (p or =16 year) had higher score at overall score and emotional well-being (p<0.05). However, age, marital state, employment, seizure type, and duration of disease did not affect QOL significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Sex, education, number of AEDs, depression, and seizure free state were major socio-clinical factors affecting QOL in patients with epilepsy. It is suggested that physician should recognize these factors and manage appropriately for improving the QOL.