Quality of life of adult patients with cryptogenic epilepsy

Abstract

Objective. To determine a position of cryptogenic epilepsy (CE) in relation to idiopathic epilepsy (IE) and symptomatic epilepsy (SE) in the aspect of patients’ quality-of-life. Material and methods. One hundred and fifty patients, including 90 with CE, 30 with SE and 30 with IE, were examined. The severity of epileptic seizures assessed with the NHS3, anxiety and depression assessed with the HADS, sleep disorders, quality-of-life measured with the Qolie-89 were studied. Results and conclusion. CE was similar to SE in many parameters but had a favorable course. The following factors were similar for CE and IE: family history of disease, differences between the severity of seizures and Qolie-89 scores. Quality-of-life was higher in CE compared to SE, despite the marked anxiety of patients. It has been concluded that CE, which is caused by both genetic and environmental factors, has an interim position between IE and SE.