Maintenance of improvement in health-related quality of life during long-term treatment with levetiracetam

Abstract

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients taking levetiracetam (LEV) was evaluated in long-term follow-up. Short-term assessments compared LEV and placebo add-on therapy in an 18-week clinical trial, with long-term follow-up for a mean of 4.1 years. The QOLIE-31 was expanded to assess distress associated with each domain, change, and priority of importance of each domain. Significant improvements were observed at short-term in patients starting with LEV (N=66), whereas patients initially randomized to placebo (N=35) were unchanged. Improvement observed in LEV starters remained stable long-term. Placebo starters reached the same level of improvement in HRQOL at long-term. Correlations between the QOLIE-31-P distress items and domain items indicated that distress was significantly lower when HRQOL was better (P<0.0001, all domains). At long-term, highest-priority QOLIE-31-P domains were Social Functioning, Cognitive Function, and Overall QOL. Thus, gains in HRQOL were maintained during long-term LEV treatment, whether LEV was initiated early or late. Patient distress and importance of domains are useful data in determining how treatments impact on HRQOL.