The Quality of Life and Related Factors in Adolescents with Epilepsy

• Main Authors: Li-Chuan Chen, 陳麗娟
• Other Authors: Jen- Chen Tsai
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/81463632745172319171

碩士 === 台北醫學院 === 護理學研究所 === 89 === In the adolescent stage, a chronic medical disorder can impair patients social functions, peer relations, self-esteem, mood and cognition status. Adolescents with epilepsy have a higher frequency of behavioral problems than do healthy and other chronically ill groups. The main purpose of this cross-sectional descriptive and correlational study was to explore the quality of life and related factors in adolescents with epilepsy. The subjects were interviewed with questionnaires at the pediatric epilepsy outpatient clinics of two medical centers in northern and southern parts of Taiwan. The study consisted of 102 non-secondary epilepsy patients, age 12 to 18. The instruments used in this study are : Personal Data Sheet (demography and characteristics of illness data), the Measurement of the Quality of Life in Adolescents with Epilepsy Inventory-48 (QOLIE-AD-48), Knowledge of Disease in Adolescents with Epilepsy Instrument. The SPSS for Windows 10.0 was used for data analysis. The important findings are as follows: (1)The average score of the quality of life is 69.94±14.48, which is in the middle level. The average scores of the eight subscales on the QOLIE-AD-48 from high to low are : school behavior, physical functioning, memory/concentration, epilepsy impact, stigma, social support, health perceptions and attitudes toward epilepsy. (2)The average score of knowledge of disease is 0.78±0.14, which is above the middle level. (3)The average score of subscale “attitudes toward epilepsy” is only 28.68, which is the worst score. (4)Age, lack of educational advancement, number of siblings, family history, age of onset, number of years with disease, type of epilepsy, frequency of seizures, years of no seizures, duration of seizures, medications, and number of years on medicine have a significant influence on the whole quality of life. (5)Subjects report higher score on knowledge of disease also have higher score on the QOLIE-AD-48. (6)The most predictive variables for the quality of life are : frequency of seizures, lack of educational advancement, number of siblings and knowledge of causes of the disease. These variables account for 24.7% of the variance in the quality of life. This study is a preliminary quantitative investigation of quality of life and related factors among adolescents with epilepsy. The results of this study are useful for medical personnel in helping adolescents with epilepsy to improve their quality of life. Key words：adolescent with epilepsy, quality of life, knowledge of disease.