1. Epilepsy treatment in The Netherlands. Comparison of two medical centres.
- Author
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Wijsman DJ, Lammers MW, Hekster YA, Keyser A, Renier WO, Meinardi H, and van Lier H
- Subjects
- Academic Medical Centers, Adult, Ambulatory Care, Anticonvulsants adverse effects, Disability Evaluation, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Drug Therapy, Combination, Electroencephalography drug effects, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Netherlands, Treatment Outcome, Anticonvulsants administration & dosage, Epilepsy drug therapy
- Abstract
In order to test if it is feasible to compare epilepsy treatment policies, a secondary (University Hospital) and a tertiary referral care centre (i.e. an Epilepsy Centre) were compared with respect to their characteristics, the treatment approaches, and the outcome of treatment using clinimetric indexes. At the Epilepsy Centre a greater variety of seizure types was seen than at the University Hospital. At the University Hospital more patients were treated with monotherapy (62.5%) than at the Epilepsy Centre (28.0%). The Composite Index of Impairments (CII), which reflects all treatment related impairments i.e. seizures and adverse events, was significantly higher at the Epilepsy Centre than at the University Hospital. No difference was seen in the groups of patients with a high score of the CII (> 100). Further analysis is needed to obtain an answer as to why differences between the two groups exist.
- Published
- 1993
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