Driving among patients with epilepsy in West China

This study was conducted to survey the driving status of PWE in West China and to explore the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with driving.

Between October 2012 and October 2013, all adult patients who came to our epilepsy clinic in the West China Hospital were invited to participate. Logistic regression was used to detect the patient factors associated with driving.

A total of 657 patients completed this study. We found that 128 (19.5%) of these patients had driven recently (during the past year); among them, 80 (62.5%) experienced at least one seizure in the previous year. A logistic regression suggested that age, being male, being married, having a higher personal income, experiencing no seizure while awake, and taking fewer antiepileptic drugs were independently associated with recent driving.

This study showed that a considerable proportion of patients continue driving despite uncontrolled seizures. More detailed and operational driving restrictions may be needed for patients in China in order to strike a better balance between patients' quality of life and public safety.