Measuring quality of life in epilepsy surgery patients

Abstract

Treatment of chronic conditions often entails trade-offs between benefits and risks or side effects. This is of particular importance in epilepsy. Consequently, assessment of effectiveness must incorporate this trade-off as perceived by the recipient of the intervention, ie., the patient. Measurement of health related quality of life (HRQOL) aims at capturing such patient-centred effects of therapy. Conceptual aspect of HRQOL are described and issues relevant to outcomes of epilepsy surgery are addressed. Finally practical aspects of measurement in the context of epilepsy surgery are discussed.