Development and validation of the Thai version of the Adult Epilepsy Self-Management Scale (Thai-ESMS).

OBJECTIVE: Self-management is an important strategy for helping people with epilepsy (PWE) control their seizures and improve their quality of life. To date, there are scarce standard measurement tools for assessing self-management practices. This study aimed to develop and validate a Thai version of the Epilepsy Self-Management Scale (Thai-ESMS) for Thai people with epilepsy. METHODS: The translation of the Thai-ESMS was created using the adaptation of Brislin's translation model. Content validity of the developed Thai-ESMS was independently assessed by 6 neurology experts and reported as item content validity index (I-CVI) and scale-CVI (S-CVI). We consecutively invited epilepsy patients at our outpatient epilepsy clinic to participate in the study from November to December 2021. Participants were asked to complete our 38-item Thai-ESMS. Based on the participant's responses, construct validity was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Cronbach's alpha coefficient was employed to evaluate internal consistency reliability. RESULTS: Overall, our 38-item Thai ESMS scale showed high content validity (S-CVI = 0.89), assessed by neurology experts. Responses from 216 patients were then used for the assessment of construct validity and internal consistency. The results showed good construct validity of 5 domains (5 factors with Eigenvalue > 1 upon EFA and good fitness index upon CFA) meaning that the developed scale is an adequate measure of the concept it was designed to evaluate and had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.819), which both values were comparable to the original English version. However, some items or domains had poorer validity and reliability than the overall scale. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a robust 38-item Thai ESMS with high validity and good reliability to be used to help assess the magnitude of self-management skills in Thai PWE. However, more work on this measure is needed before distribution to a wider population.

Prolonged migraine aura resembling ischemic stroke following CoronaVac vaccination: an extended case series.

BACKGROUND: After the initiation of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Thailand, thousands of patients have experienced unusual focal neurological symptoms. We report 8 patients with focal neurological symptoms after receiving inactivated virus vaccine, CoronaVac. CASE SERIES: Patients were aged 24-48 years and 75% were female. Acute onset of focal neurological symptoms occurred within the first 24 h after vaccination in 75% and between 1-7d in 25%. All presented with lateralized sensory deficits, motor deficits, or both, of 2-14 day duration. Migraine headache occurred in half of the patients. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain during and after the attacks did not demonstrate any abnormalities suggesting ischemic stroke. All patients showed moderately large regions of hypoperfusion and concurrent smaller regions of hyperperfusion on SPECT imaging while symptomatic. None developed permanent deficits or structural brain injury. DISCUSSIONS: Here, we present a case series of transient focal neurological syndrome following Coronavac vaccination. The characteristic sensory symptoms, history of migraine, female predominant, and abnormal functional brain imaging without structural changes suggest migraine aura as pathophysiology. We propose that pain related to vaccine injection, component of vaccine, such as aluminum, or inflammation related to vaccination might trigger migraine aura in susceptible patients.