title: Quality of life in epileptic patients compared with healthy people.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder that has a great impact on people's lives. Patients with epilepsy are at increased risk for poor Quality of Life (QoL). The objective of this study was to evaluate the QoL of epileptic patients in comparison to healthy persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted on 52 epileptic patients from Golbu region in Neyshabur (a city in northeast of Iran). Using Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) scale, the data were collected between April and Jun 2012. Every patient were compared with two healthy persons. Epileptic and healthy persons were similar for age, sex and local residence. Pearson's correlation coefficient and t-independent test applied for data analysis through SPSS v. 16 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 52 epileptic patients, 24 were female (46.2%) and 28 were male (53.8%). The mean±SD age of epileptic patients was 40.92±20.33yr (Rang: 15-86yr). The total mean score of SF- 36 in patient group was 55.88 and in healthy group 68.52and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Among the different subscales of SF-36 in epileptic patients, the highest and the lowest mean scores were found for social functioning and general health subscales, respectively. The mean scores in patient group in comparison to healthy group were lower in all subscales of SF-36 and these differences were statistically significant in all domains (except role limitations due to physical problems domain and role limitations due to emotional problems domain).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study showed that epilepsy disease has an important role in QoL of patients, thus some interventional programs are necessary to improve their QOL.
authors: MSc in Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, & PhD student in Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. aagholami80@yahoo.com.
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Gholami
authors: Department of Public Health, Medical Sciences Faculty, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran. salarilak@yahoo.com.
authors: Shaker
authors: S
authors: Salarilak
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. pegah_lotfabadi@yahoo.com.
authors: Pegah
authors: P
authors: Lotfabadi
authors: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. kiani9660@gmail.com.
authors: Fereshte
authors: F
authors: Kiani
authors: PhD student in Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. rajabiepid@gmail.com.
authors: Abdolhalim
authors: A
authors: Rajabi
authors: Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran. kamyarmansori@yahoo.com.
authors: Kamyar
authors: K
authors: Mansori
authors: Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. zahramusavi_j@yahoo.com.
authors: Zahra
authors: Z
authors: Moosavi Jahromi
keywords: Epilepsy; Neyshabur; Quality of life; SF-36