The role of illness perceptions in epilepsy throughout the lifespan: A systematic review

The domains of Leventhal's Common Sense Model of Illness Representations have been linked to various physical and emotional outcomes in several health conditions. Research on illness perceptions among adults, and even more so among children and adolescents, with epilepsy remains limited. The present review aims to examine and compare the reported associations between illness perceptions and various outcomes in adults and children/adolescents with epilepsy.

A systematic search of PsychInfo, MEDLINE/PubMed, ScienceDirect Journals, and Science Citation Index Expanded was conducted. Studies that used the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), the Illness Perception Questionnaire Revised (IPQ-R) or the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) and were targeting adults or children/adolescents with epilepsy were included. Seventeen articles dealing with adult patients and four articles with children/adolescents met the inclusion criteria. A quality appraisal checklist was applied to the included articles.

Most of the studies were cross-sectional. Summarizing the literature, illness perceptions were shown to be significantly associated with both physical and psychological outcomes. Some notable differences between adults and children/adolescents were discussed such as the fact that emotional representation was significantly associated with all variables investigated in children/adolescents, but not in adults.

The results of this review indicate the potential value of illness perceptions for future experimental and intervention studies in epilepsy research. Children and adolescents with epilepsy remain an underrepresented population in illness perceptions research, warranting specific attention considering differences shown. Recommendations for future research and for daily clinical practice are presented.