title: Socioeconomic outcome of epilepsy surgery: A controlled national study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Epilepsy surgery has been a standard treatment for refractory epilepsies that cannot be controlled by standard medical treatment. We aimed to evaluate the health and social consequences of resective surgery relative to controls from a study of national data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the Danish National Patient Registry we identified all subjects with an epilepsy diagnosis between 1996 and 2009 and compared them with a group of patients with an epilepsy diagnosis who had had neither epilepsy surgery nor a vagus stimulation diagnosis by the index date, and who were matched by gender, index year for epilepsy diagnosis, and index year for epilepsy surgery. We considered all the health and social information available in the Danish health, medication and social registers. The duration of follow-up was three years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  254 epilepsy patients and 989 controls were analyzed. Surgery patients were more severely affected by their disease as indicated by health care use and social impact before the surgical procedure. Patients who underwent epilepsy surgery had a significantly lower costs associated with the use of medication, outpatient services, inpatient admissions, and accident and emergency visits after surgery. The surgical intervention had no significant effects on social status in terms of occupation and educational level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although epilepsy surgery was followed by a reduction in inpatient and outpatient health care use, medication and use of accident and emergency facilities, suggesting a positive effect on the epileptic disease, there was no significant effect on social outcome measures.
authors: Danish Center for Sleep Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: poul.joergen.jennum@regionh.dk.
authors: Poul
authors: P
authors: Jennum
authors: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: anne.sabers@regionh.dk.
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Sabers
authors: Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: jakob@clin.au.dk.
authors: Jakob
authors: J
authors: Christensen
authors: itracks, Klosterport 4E, 4, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: rikke@itracks.dk.
authors: Rikke
authors: R
authors: Ibsen
authors: Danish National Institute for Local and Regional Government Research, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: jakj@kora.dk.
authors: Jakob
authors: J
authors: Kjellberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D000069279:Drug Resistant Epilepsy / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000191:economics; D009790:Occupations / Q000191:economics; D012042:Registries; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Childhood; Controlled; Epilepsy; Prospective; Welfare costs