RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Impact of Pediatric Epilepsy on Children and Families: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study
Ahmed Hussein Subki1, *, Abdel Moniem Mukhtar2, Rakan Salah Al-Harbi1, Abdulaziz Khaled Alotaibi1, Faisal Ghazi Mosaad1, Mohammed Saad Alsallum1, Mohammed M.S. Jan1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2018Volume: 14
First Page: 323
Last Page: 333
Publisher ID: CPEMH-14-323
DOI: 10.2174/1745017901814010323
Article History:
Received Date: 24/8/2018Revision Received Date: 2/10/2018
Acceptance Date: 19/11/2018
Electronic publication date: 31/12/2018
Collection year: 2018
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background and Objectives:
Epilepsy is considered one of the most prevalent causes of morbidity in children. The aim of this study is to determine how epilepsy impacts the lives of children with epilepsy and their families.
Methods:
A translated version of the “Impact of Pediatric Epilepsy Scale” (IPES) questionnaire was completed by the 80 mothers of children with epilepsy, recruited at three hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia This is a validated self-administered questionnaire used to assess the impact of epilepsy on the lives of the child and family, as well as the quality of life (QoL) of the child.
Results:
The mean age of children epilepsy was 6.32 years (SD = 3.22). The mean IPES score was 6.28 (SD = 8.42) and the mean child’s QoL was 2.85 (SD= 0.83). 87.5% of the mothers rated their child’s QoL as low. IPES score was significantly associated with cause of seizure (β=0.259; 95%-CI= 0.263 - 10.334; p = 0.039). Child’s QoL was significantly associated with frequency of seizure (β=0.251; 95%-CI= 0.016 - 0.568; p= 0.039) and child’s nationality (β=-0.270; 95%-CI -0.252, -0.013; p= 0.031).
Conclusions:
Pediatric epilepsy may have a greater impact on the lives of the child and the family when it is not comorbid with cerebral palsy. Quality of life tends to be lower for non-Saudi children, and children with more frequent seizures. Therefore, these groups may need more support in managing the impact that epilepsy has on their daily functioning and quality of life.