Quality of life and personality in adults with epilepsy

This study was undertaken to understand the quality of life, personality, and associated factors in patients with epilepsy.

117 patients with epilepsy and 84 healthy people were studied and tested using the Social Support Scale, the General Well-being Schedule, the Life-Event Scale, the Behavior Pattern Scale, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ).

There were no significant differences between the patients with epilepsy and the control group in the Social Support Scale results. The General Well-being Schedule scores were lower for the case patients than for the control group (p < 0.01). Scores for patients with frequent seizures (once a month or more) were lower than those without frequent seizures (less than once per month). The case patients had higher negative scores in the family-related problem section of the Life Events Scale, compared with the control group (p < 0.05). The patients with epilepsy were also more likely to lie (p < 0.05); their emotions were more changeable (p < 0.01), and their character more introverted (p < 0.05), although their behavior patterns were similar to the controls. We also studied associated factors related to personality, general well-being, and familial-negative life-events.

These results provide information about patients with epilepsy that may be useful in their psychological treatment.