Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Sep;4(3):116-22.
doi: 10.3988/jcn.2008.4.3.116. Epub 2008 Sep 30.

Quality of life after epilepsy surgery in Korea

Smi Choi-Kwon  1 , Chun-Kee Chung, Sang Kun Lee, Jimi Choi, Kihye Han, Eun-Hyun Lee
Affiliations

Quality of life after epilepsy surgery in Korea

Smi Choi-Kwon et al. J Clin Neurol. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Temporal changes in the quality of life (QOL) and the underlying factors after epilepsy surgery might be specific to Korea, where social stigma toward patients with epilepsy is still pronounced.

Methods: The seizure characteristics, number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), and the presence of stigma, anxiety, and depression were assessed before and after surgery (at 6 months and around 2 years) in 32 surgery patients and 32 nonsurgery patients. The QOL was compared between these groups using the Epilepsy Surgery Inventory-55 questionnaire. The factors affecting QOL were also evaluated.

Results: The scores in the mental, physical, and role-functioning domains were significantly higher at 6 months (all p<0.01) and around 2 years (all p<0.01) than at baseline in the surgery group but not in the nonsurgery group. The factors related to QOL differed at the two follow-up times, with seizure freedom being important at 6 months, and AEDs and depression being important at around 2 years.

Conclusions: A marked increase in QOL in our population was observed after epilepsy surgery. Although the small sample limits the interpretation of the results, the QOL change in our surgery patients shows similar trends to those reported in Western countries. A full understanding of underlying factors related to QOL might aid the development of optimal strategies for improving the long-term postsurgery QOL in this population.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Epilepsy Surgery Inventory-55; Epilepsy surgery; Quality of life; Stigma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Smith D, Baker GA, Jacoby A, Chadwick DW. The contribution of the measurement of seizure severity to quality of life research. Qual Life Res. 1995;4:143–158. - PubMed
    1. Kellett MW, Smith DF, Baker GA, Chadwick DW. Quality of life after epilepsy surgery. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1997;63:52–58. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McLachlan RS, Rose KJ, Derry PA, Bonnar C, Blume WT, Girvin JP. Health-related quality of life and seizure control in temporal lobe epilepsy. Ann Neurol. 1997;41:482–489. - PubMed
    1. Selai CE, Elstner K, Trimble MR. Quality of life pre and post epilepsy surgery. Epilepsy Res. 2000;38:67–74. - PubMed
    1. Bien CG, Schulze-Bonhage A, Soeder BM, Schramm J, Elger CE, Tiemeier H. Assessment of the long-term effects of epilepsy surgery with three different reference groups. Epilepsia. 2006;47:1865–1869. - PubMed