Parent/caregiver reported health-related functioning in Chinese children with epilepsy: A cross-sectional, parents-responded, hospital-based study

Abstract

Due to epilepsy, children have faced several difficulties and challenges. Epilepsy shows an impact on a person quality of life (QoL) which can be associated with psychological, physical, and social aspects and can have a greater impact on the QoL of the person than that do through another chronic disease(s). Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a multidimensional concept that includes emotional, mental, physical, behavioral, and social aspects of the well-being and functioning of the patients. The objective of the study was to assess the level of HRQoL for childhood epilepsy in Chinese children under treatment for epilepsy. Also, to identify factors that can affect QoL. A descriptive, cross-sectional, parents-responded questionnaire-based study was performed on 382, 4 to 18 years old hospitalized and outpatient units’ children from various backgrounds, varying socio-economic status, and of varying intellectual capability with the most recent epilepsy. The clinical and socio-demographic parameters were collected from medical records and by an interview with parents of children. The quality of life in the children with epilepsy (QoLCE) questionnaire-91 was used to access HRQoL. The average age of children was 10.4 ± 3.2 years. The duration of epilepsy in children was 3.90 ± 2.80 years. Among the enrolled children, 153 (40%) children were girls, and 229 (60%) individuals were boys. The overall QoLCE questionnaire-91 score was 69.40 ± 16.40 (minimum scores: 27.80, maximum scores: 87.80). A total of 324 (84%), 41 (11%), and 17 (5%) children were from urban, suburban, and rural types, respectively. The generalized seizure (198 (52%)) is the most common type of existing seizure followed by focal seizure (152 (40%)). Male (P = .015), older children (12–14 years, P = .019), those residing in urban areas (P = .021), and those with focal seizures (P = .049) had higher QoL scores. The overall QoL of Chinese CWE is affected by sex, age, urbanization, and seizure type but not with education or economic status of the families. The study provides helpful insight for the clinicians in the management of chronic childhood epileptic conditions (Level of Evidence: II; Technical Efficacy Stage: 5).