Quality of life among people with epilepsy: A cross-sectional study from rural southern India

Background. Epilepsy can be associated with profound physical, social and psychological consequences and it has an Impact on a person's quality of life. We assessed the quality of life and factors associated with a poor quality of life, among adults with epilepsy in a rural block of Tamil Nadu. Methods. We interviewed 91 epilepsy patients from 20 randomly selected villages using a structured questionnaire including World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) questionnaires. Results. The mean (SD) total score of the quality of life scale was 61.49 (12.56). Those who were single, separated or widowed (t statistic = -2.71, p<0.01), had not completed primary education (t statistic = -2.308, p<0.05), not currently going for work (t statistic = -2.748, p<0.01), had seizure in the past one year (t statistic = -4.068, p<0.01), had depressive symptoms (t statistic = -3.207, p<0.01), had higher anxiety scores (t statistic = 2.727, p<0.01), had low scores in the quality of life questionnaire. Multivariate analysis showed increasing age, education less than grade V, being unmarried, widowed or separated, lower per capita income, a high anxiety score and experiencing a seizure episode in the past one year to be significantly associated with a low score in the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire (adjusted R-2=0.378, SE 9.90). Conclusion. The presence of anxiety, lack of primary education, being single, separated or widowed, increasing age, low per capita income and having a seizure episode in the past year are associated with lower quality of life among people with epilepsy.