Patients' experiences of and satisfaction with care for their epilepsy

To determine condition-specific satisfaction with care, we studied patients' experience of general practitioner (primary physician) and hospital clinic care for their epilepsy and their views about the provision of information concerning the management of their condition.

A postal questionnaire was sent to an unselected, community-based population of patients with epilepsy. In addition to clinical and demographic details and previously validated scales of psychosocial well-being, the instrument contained a series of questions about patients' experiences and views of the care they received for epilepsy from both general practice and the hospital services.

Doctors' interpersonal skills were the most influential factors affecting both patient satisfaction overall and the likelihood that doctors might discuss with patients certain clinical and social issues surrounding the management of the patient's condition. A sizable proportion of patients reported that they received insufficient information about epilepsy, both from hospital doctors and general practitioners.

Patients with epilepsy place great importance on having a doctor who is approachable, communicative, and knowledgeable and on receiving adequate information about their condition. Clinicians may need to be made more aware of the importance of accessibility and sensitivity to the nonclinical needs of their patients. Such easily implemented changes in the delivery of care would improve services in the United Kingdom for people with epilepsy.