Examining Psychological Group Interventions for Adult Epilepsy Patients: A Systematic Review

The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is adversely affected in people living with epilepsy (PLWE). Psychological interventions are widely used to enhance HRQoL. The current study aims to review studies examining the effects of psychological group interventions in PLWE.

We included randomized controlled quantitative studies published between 2000 and 2023 investigating the effectiveness of psychological group interventions in PLWE aged 18 and over. A total of 10 randomized controlled studies met the inclusion criteria of the review.

The reviewed studies included self-management interventions, psychotherapeutic interventions, psychoeducational interventions, and combined interventions involving different types of interventions. The most frequently targeted outcome variables in the interventions were quality of life (QoL) (90%), depression (60%), and self-management (30%). Analyses of the reviewed studies revealed that 67% of interventions targeting quality of life (QoL) improvement, 50% of interventions targeting depression reduction, and 100% of interventions targeting self-management skill enhancement were successful. Furthermore, in studies involving an active control group in which a different group intervention was applied, many of the gains achieved in the intervention groups were also achieved in the active control groups. Interventions conducted online yielded similarly successful results to face-to-face interventions.

Evidence suggests that psychological group interventions are beneficial for adult individuals living with epilepsy in terms of many outcome variables. Furthermore, positive outcomes observed in active control groups suggest that group interventions can significantly improve QoL for PLWE beyond the specific content delivered.