Epilepsy monitoring - The patients' views: A qualitative study based on Kolcaba's Comfort Theory

The aim of this qualitative study was to determine which perception of personal comfort patients name in the context of their hospitalization in an Austrian Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU).

Problem-centred interviews with twelve inpatients were conducted. Data analyses were done according to Mayring's qualitative content analyses following the technique of structuring-deductive category assignment.

Patients experienced different kinds of comfort along with their hospitalization in the EMU. Comfort-decreasing factors were bed rest, boredom, and waiting for possible seizures. As comfort-increasing factors, hope for enhanced seizure control, support by family and staff, and intelligible information about the necessity of restrictive conditions were identified.

The study results should assist health care professionals, enabling them to design comfort enhancing interventions for patients undergoing video-electroencephalography (EEG) investigations in an EMU. Some of these seem to be simple and obtainable without high financial or technical effort. Others are more complex and have to be further assessed for their feasibility.