title: An online diary for tracking epilepsy.
abstract: My Epilepsy Diary is a free Web-based application on the public website epilepsy.com, available for patients to track epilepsy and to aid clinicians with data-based, individualized management. The first aim of this descriptive study was to outline electronic diary functions. Second, the study retrospectively profiled a large cohort of 2010 calendar year diary users including demographics, seizure types, temporal distribution of seizures, triggers, and use and side effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). A total of 1944 users provided demographic information and 1877 recorded seizure data. Most (64%) users were women. Average age was 29.9±16.0 years. A total of 70,990 seizure entries and 15,630 AED entries were logged. Events were apportioned as 79% seizures and 21% seizure clusters. Specific AEDs were detailed in 7331 entries: monotherapy was used in 18% and polytherapy in 82%. Mood-related side effects were most commonly reported in 19% of 1027 users.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. schele@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Scheherazade
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: Patricia O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Shafer
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bartfeld
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009862:Online Systems; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants