[Hemifacial spasm, quality of life and depression]

Quality of life, a concept which has become increasingly important in recent years, refers to a patient's perception of himself in relation to his illness and its treatment. This is compared with the concept of quantity of life or survival. This approach is in keeping with the concepts of health of the World Health Organization. Hemifacial spasm is a disorder of movement with a prevalence of 7.4 and 14.5 per 100,000 men and women respectively.

To evaluate the quality of life of patients with hemifacial spasm, study the occurrence of depression and ascertain whether it correlates with the severity, response to treatment and muscle groups involved.

We present a cohort of 57 patients (average age 53.4 years) with hemifacial spasm, in whom the disorder had been present for an average of 3.7 years.

It was found that in these patients the quality of life and index of depression were worse when the severity of the disease was greater, response to treatment poorer and there was generalized hemifacial paralysis, (p < 0.00000) for each parameter. The deterioration in quality of life was correlated with depression (correlation 0.6) for the criteria of severity and muscle groups involved, but not with the response to treatment (correlation 0.3).

Hemifacial spasm significantly alters the quality of life of patients and is associated with depression. This should be taken into account when treating such patients.