The effect of self-management training on health-related quality of life in patients with epilepsy

Abstract

Purpose: Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disease after headache. Health-related quality of life in patients with epilepsy is disturbed by psychosocial factors, seizures, and treatment side effects. This study was conducted to determine the effect of a self-management training program on quality of life in patients with epilepsy.

Methods: In this controlled clinical trial, 60 patients with epilepsy going to Zanjan Neurology Clinic were examined. The samples were selected using convenience sampling and divided randomly into the case group (30 people) and control group (30 people) using the table of random numbers. Four training sessions on the nature of epilepsy and self-managementwere run for the case group. All the patients completed an inventory for quality of life twice: before and one month after the intervention. The data were analyzed using the chi-square test, independent t-test, and paired t-test.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups before the intervention in terms of personal specifications and scores and dimensions of the quality of life. One month after the intervention, a statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of the scores and dimensions of quality of life that indicated improved quality of life in the case group (P<0.001).

Conclusion: The self-management training program improved the quality of life in patients with epilepsy. The present findings highlight that psychosocial variables can have incremental significance over biomedical variables in the health-related quality of life of patients with epilepsy.

Keywords: Health-related quality of life; Patients with epilepsy; Self-management training.