QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG PAEDIATRIC EPILEPTIC PATIENTS IN  RURAL AREA OF TAMILNADU  A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY

Dr.K.Sunitha; Dr.M.Vijayalakshmi

Volume : IV, Issue : VIII, August - 2015

QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG PAEDIATRIC EPILEPTIC PATIENTS IN RURAL AREA OF TAMILNADU A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY

Dr. K. Sunitha, Dr. M. Vijayalakshmi

Abstract :

Background: Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological illness in children with prevalance being 3.6– 44/1000 in underdeveloped countries. The burden of the disease is enormous and there is a dearth of information on the morbidity and social impact of epilepsy on the children. Managing a child with epilepsy has important implications on the total well being of the family. Hence analyzing the children with seizures to know the psychosocial impact of it on the child and its family can be a useful epidemiological tool to assess the Quality of life among epileptic children in the family. Methodology: The study was conducted in Neurology Department of Government Tirunelveli Medical College for a period of 2 months from January 2015– Feuary 2015. 100 epileptic children who attended the neurology OPD were selected randomly. After obtaining verbal consent from the mothers semi–structured questionnaire was administered and data regarding the type of seizure disorder, duration of treatment, relationship of the child with the parents, peergroup,siblings and neighbours and any other physical and mental limitations were obtained. Results:Out of the 100children,75 children had epilepsy alone and 25 children had epilepsy and mental retardation. 26 are not going to school due to developmental delay and repeated seizure attacks.56 children are going to regular school and 6 are going to special school. Epileptic children with mental retardation (25) are having low quality of life as compared to children with epilepsy alone (75). The study reveals that frequent seizure attacks affects the quality of life of the children and the entire family. Epilepsy had an impact on cognition, memory and social interaction of the child suggesting the need for rehabilitation among them.