Health-related quality of life in adolescents with epilepsy in Montenegro

Abstract

© 2017 Elsevier Inc. Objective The objective of this study was to establish potential risk factors for poor health-related quality of life among adolescents with epilepsy in Montenegro. Material and methods A sample of 104 adolescents with epilepsy (age: 11–19 years) at a tertiary referral center in Podgorica, Montenegro, completed the validated Serbian version of the QOLIE-AD-48 questionnaire. They were divided into two groups: a group with active epilepsy (60 adolescents) and a group with inactive epilepsy (44 adolescents). Demographic and clinical data were collected. Results Adolescents with active epilepsy had low quality of life and felt the negative impact of the disease. They also had more cognitive impairments, felt more stigmatized, and had considerably more distorted perception of their health than adolescents with inactive epilepsy (p < 0.05). Females reported better social support than males (p < 0.05). Older males had lower grades at school (p < 0.05) than the younger ones. As expected, adolescents with the highest number of seizures in the past two years had the lowest quality of life (p < 0.05). Conclusion In our study, the quality of life in adolescents with epilepsy was determined by severity of the disease, age, and gender.