Influence of clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic variables on quality of life in patients with epilepsy: findings from Georgian study

Objective: To identify the clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic factors that are associated with a poor quality of life in patients with epilepsy in Georgia. Methods: Clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic status data were collected from 115 adult epileptic outpatients being treated in the epilepsy programme at the Sarajishvili Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery (SINN) in Tbilisi, Georgia. Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) was measured by the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31). Multiple regression analysis was used to determine which variables were associated with QOLIE-31 total and subcomponent scores. Results: Mean age of the patient population was 37.9 (SD 15.8) years; 43.5% were females; 51.8% did not have a partner; 39.1% had some university education; 82.6% were unemployed. Of 115 epileptic patients 83.3% had partial, and 16.7% had generalised seizures. Overall, 32.2% of patients were seizure free, and 28.7% experienced more than 10 seizures over the past year. The variables that most strongly predicted a lower QOLIE-31 total score were a low education level, high seizure frequency, and long duration of epilepsy. The QOLIE-31 all subcomponent scores correlated strongly with seizure frequency. Advanced age was a significant predictor for a low overall quality of life, energy/fatigue, and cognitive scores. Female sex was the factor that significantly predicted a low seizure worry score. Education level strongly correlated with overall quality of life, and cognitive and social functioning scores. Conclusions: Clinical factors such as high seizure frequency and long duration of epilepsy had a significant influence on HRQL. Advanced age, female sex, and a low education level were the demographic factors that correlated strongly with low quality of life scores.