Purpose: To study the impact of epilepsy in a representative sample of people with epilepsy and compare with a normal reference population.
Methods: We collected clinical and demographic data and information on health status by using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire in two populations: (a) 397 patients with confirmed epilepsy attending a county hospital during a 7-year period, and (b) 1,663 patients from a random sample representative of the entire national population.
Results: The respondents with epilepsy had well-regulated disease and showed the characteristics of a community sample: 70% had had no seizures during the last year, and 80% used antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). On six of eight SF-36 scales, patients with epilepsy had lower scores than the normal reference population, and they were less likely to be married, employed, or a full-time student. Seizure-free patients with epilepsy had scores close to those of the normal reference population, with higher scores on the social functioning and mental health scales and lower on the role--emotional scale. There were no differences in health status scores between seizure-free patients using and not using AEDs.
Conclusions: Our results confirm that patients with well-regulated epilepsy have a health status at the level of a general reference population.