Seizure emergency plans: patient results from a cross-sectional epilepsy survey.
Guidance for seizure emergency plans exists, although their impact and extent of use in patients with epilepsy are undetermined. This study's primary purpose was to measure the estimated use and content of seizure emergency plans. Secondary objectives included measuring: disease severity, quality of life, productivity, and adherence among patients with and without a plan. An online survey was conducted among 408 patients with epilepsy (ages 18-64) who took one or more antiepileptic drugs. Only 30% of patients reported having a plan, which included avoiding injury, notifying a physician, resting/relaxing, and seeking emergency assistance. Those with a plan were more likely to have experienced more seizures in the past year, to have missed school/work, to have incurred injury, to have visited the ER, to have been hospitalized, to fear additional seizures, and to have lost a job. Seizure emergency plans appear to be reserved for adults with more severe disease, but there may be clinical benefits to developing a plan for all adult patients with epilepsy.
Wheless
James W
JW
University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
Manjunath
Ranjani
R
Phelps
Stephanie J
SJ
Asato
Miya R
MR
Sheth
Raj D
RD
Hovinga
Collin A
CA
Pina-Garza
Jesus E
JE
Haskins
Lisa S
LS
Zingaro
Wendy M
WM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004630:Emergencies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009862:Online Systems; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult