Abstract
Objective: To describe health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and associated sociodemographic/clinical characteristics among adult outpatients with epilepsy at the Neurology Center, Bach Mai Hospital.
Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included 48 consecutive adult outpatients with clinician-confirmed epilepsy. Data collected comprised age, sex, education, marital status, residence, monthly income, seizure frequency (frequent/moderate/infrequent), disease duration, epilepsy type (focal/generalized), treatment regimen (monotherapy/polytherapy/untreated), treatment response at assessment, comorbidities, self-rated overall QoL, and health satisfaction. HRQoL was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF across four domains (physical, psychological, social relationships, environment) and transformed to 0–100 (higher = better). Descriptive statistics were reported.
Results: Participants were predominantly <40 years (81.3%); males accounted for 50.0%. Education ≥upper-secondary was 68.8%; rural residence 58.3%; monthly income >5,400,000 VND 72.9%. Seizure frequency was infrequent in 45.8%, moderate in 41.7%, and frequent in 12.5%. Disease duration was <5 years in 54.1% (5–10 years 18.8%; >10 years 27.1%). Focal and generalized epilepsy were equally represented (50.0% each). Most patients received monotherapy (75.0%); 20.8% were on polytherapy and 4.2% were untreated. At assessment, 72.9% reported clinical improvement; 41.7% had comorbidities. Self-ratings showed overall QoL as average in 49.4%, good/very good in 25.9%, and poor/very poor in 24.7%; health satisfaction was 17.1% satisfied, 37.6% neutral, and 45.3% dissatisfied. Mean WHOQOL-BREF scores were: physical 50.51 ± 21.09 (lowest), psychological 66.89 ± 16.65, social relationships 73.70 ± 22.57 (highest), environment 60.29 ± 17.83; overall HRQoL 63.10 ± 18.56 (range 28.25–95.50), approximately 7.66 points below the healthy reference.
Conclusion:. Routine HRQoL screening with WHOQOL-BREF, optimization of seizure control while minimizing treatment burden (prefer monotherapy when appropriate), and systematic screening/treatment of mood symptoms are recommended.