The results of an evaluation of quality of care and life in children with epilepsy

Epilepsy is characterized by a chronic course, repeated seizures and psychopathological disorders. The debut of epilepsy occurs mainly in childhood, and the frequency of the disease in the child and adolescent population is 0.5-0.75%. The interrelation of the forms of the disease with the perception of the child’s environment, the quality of his life, according to the literature, are not well studied. The establishment of this interrelation will help better understand of the psychology of sick child, improve quality of life, and its characteristics have to be considered in the prescribing the therapy. The aim of this study is to identify the impact of the form of epilepsy on the perception of the child or the parents of the treatment process, the conditions of stay in the medical institution, the assessment of quality of life. At the department of neurology, neurosurgery and medical genetics SPbSPMU examined 50 children with epilepsy, and conducted a survey of the children and their relatives. To children diagnosed symptomatic or cryptogenic epilepsy (the first group), to 14 children - idiopathic epilepsy (the second group). All patients were also tested, during which children and/or their parents were asked to answer 15 questions related to the finding on the treatment in the clinic. The studying of the significant differences in positive responses to each question in children groups I and II using the exact method of Fisher revealed significant differences in the answers to questions related to the conditions in hospitals, silence during examinations, and satisfaction with the continuance of waiting a doctor visit. Close relatives and children were given 10 questions regarding satisfaction with various aspects of life. A comparison of the number of positive ratings from relatives children’s group I and II using the exact method of Fisher showed that relatives of children of group II received for responding significantly greater number of good marks.

epilepsy, quality of life, the significance of change, Fisher’s exact test