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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

A Multimodal Imaging- and Stimulation-based Method of Evaluating Connectivity-related Brain Excitability in Patients with Epilepsy
Published on: November 13, 2016
Impact of epilepsy on QOL in a Portuguese population: exploratory study
J L Ribeiro1, D Mendonça, A Martins da Silva
1Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação--Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
Objectives:
To develop an outcome measure of QOL (quality of life) for the Portuguese population; describe QOL in epileptics; analyse how QOL is affected by epilepsy and analyse how QOL is affected by patients' characteristics.
Patients And Methods:
Study of a consecutive sample of 92 epileptics from an outpatient clinic, men and women, aged 15-65, having the basic education level. Firm diagnosis of epilepsy (with or without seizures) without other illness. A questionnaire based on ESI-55 and Health Insurance Experiment Short-Forms was used. Principal component analysis (orthogonal varimax) showed a solution explaining 55.6 of total variance. After the inspection, the 33 items were grouped into 5 sub-scales (dimensions).
Results:
Results showed that QOL was poor for people with partial seizures. The best scores were found on patients now free from seizures.
Conclusion:
The QOL measure is sensitive to cultural differences, demographic and disease variables which could explain the results found.
Related Concept Videos
Epilepsy and Seizures: Overview
Various factors can trigger epilepsy, including genetic factors, brain damage, metabolic causes, and unknown etiology. Diagnosis of epilepsy involves electroencephalography (EEG), which...
Seizures: Classification
Seizures are typically classified into two main categories: focal and generalized seizures.
Focal Seizures
Focal seizures originate from specific regions of the brain. These seizures are further sub-classified into two types:
Seizures l: Introduction
Seizures ll: Types
Epilepsy ll: Types

