title: Assessment of parent reported quality of life in children with epilepsy from Northern India: A cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the following study is to assess parent reported quality of life (QOL) in children with epilepsy and to assess the demographic and clinical factors, which influence the QOL in children with epilepsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We consecutively enrolled 40 children aged from 2 years to 14 years with active epilepsy who had undergone a comprehensive evaluation for epilepsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents were enquired on baseline demographic variables including age, gender, socio-economic status and parental education. Clinical details of epilepsy including the type of epilepsy, seizure frequency were assessed. QOL was evaluated with the parent reported quality of life in childhood epilepsy (QOLCE) questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 40 children were enrolled of which 55% (22/40) were males and the mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of enrolled children was 10.6 (2.7) years. The majority came from a rural background (80% [32/40]), were from lower (15 [37.5%]) or middle (23 [57.5%]) socio-economic status, with almost half (22 [55%]) of mothers being educated until high school. The overall mean (SD) QOL score was 66.7 (4.83). Lowest mean (SD) scores were observed in self-esteem (45.2 [7.3]) subscale and subscales with higher QOL scores included control/helplessness (82.1 [8.51]), anxiety (81.6 [12.55]) and social stigma (95.0 [11.6]). Parental education, socio-economic status (P = 0.96), frequency of seizure (P = 0.34) or type of epilepsy (P = 0.92) did not significantly affect the overall QOL among children with epilepsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study concluded that overall QOL was compromised in Indian children with epilepsy. Demographic factors like parental education, socio-economic status and clinical factors like frequency of seizure or type of seizure did not significantly affect the QOL of epileptic children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Pt. B D Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Vandana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arya
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Pt. B D Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Virender Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Gehlawat
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Pt. B D Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Jaya Shankar
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kaushik
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Pt. B D Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Geeta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gathwala
keywords: Children; epilepsy; quality of life; socio-economic status