Medical care for adult patients with epilepsy in Ukraine during hostilities: the most acute problems and terrible experiences

Abstract

Taking into account the situation in Ukraine, which was caused by the full-scale attack of Russia on our country, a large number of problems arose in receiving and providing medical care to patients suffering from epilepsy, taking into account the receipt of medicines, consultations of specialists, lack of adequate diagnostics. In connection with the war in the country, many problems have arisen that directly affect patients, doctors who provide medical care, and the medical health care system. The work considered the issues of both patients who are in the territory of Ukraine and patients who were forced to leave the country, assessed the quality of medical care provided by doctors, assessed the level of care for patients who are located directly next to the front line and in remote areas. A survey was conducted of 102 adult patients with various forms of epilepsy aged 18 to 66 years, of whom 43 were men and 59 were women. The data were obtained by means of an anonymous on-line questionnaire using the original questionnaire developed by the authors, which contains 31 questions. The survey was conducted in April-May 2023. The conducted survey showed a very large impact of the war and related negative factors on the state of patients with epilepsy, the state of medical care even a year after the beginning of the full-scale aggression of Russia, when the health care system of Ukraine had already begun to recover from the shock state at the beginning of the full-scale aggression intrusion. Key words: providing medical care, patient problems, epilepsy, hostilities, patient migration, epilepsy treatment