3P-S2-1

MEASURES TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY

Mohamad Mikati MD

Department of Pediatrics, American University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon

The goals of therapy of epilepsy are not only to reduce the number of seizures, but also to improve the Quality of Life (QOL) of the patients that suffer from it. In the past few years there has been an increasing interest in the development of measures that assess the QOL in adult and, more recently, in pediatric patients. These will be reviewed. Studies have demonstrated that the degree of control of epilepsy is a major determinant of the QOL, but that there are many social, and drug related factors that can influence it too. Epilepsy surgery can also improve QOL, but some QOL measures may not improve despite the cessation of seizures. Awareness of those measures is helping in better planning of therapy of patients, in anticipating potential problems before and after surgery, and in designing drug therapy studies. It is anticipated that, in the future, this area will receive increasing attention from researchers, clinicians and health care planners alike.