title: Influence of Marital Status on the Quality of Life of Chinese Adult Patients with Epilepsy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epilepsy is a chronic disorder characterized by recurrent seizures and has significant psychological and social consequence for everyday living. Epilepsy affects various aspects of ones' social life. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of marital status on the quality of life of adult Chinese patients with epilepsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study surveyed 805 Chinese adults who have been clinically diagnosed with epilepsy for longer than 1 year in 11 hospitals in Beijing. In this survey, 532 (66.1%) participants were married. All of them completed the case report form with enquiries on demographic data, social factors, and illness. The marriage status of adult epileptic quality of life was the dependent variable, and demographic data and clinical data were independent variables, analyzed through the multiple linear regression analysis methods. The patients' quality of life was assessed using the Quality of Life in patients with Epilepsy-31 items (QOLIE-31) questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 items (GAD-7).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores in the unmarried group (PHQ-9 = 6.0 and GAD-7 = 5.0) were significantly higher than that of the married group (PHQ-9 = 4.0 and GAD-7 =3.0). The scores of married adult patients with epilepsy on QOLIE (61.8 ± 15.3) and social function (70.9 ± 22.7) were higher than the scores of the unmarried patients aged between 20 and 44 years. The scores of married adult epileptics on the QOLIE (58.4 ± 14.6) and the energy/fatigue (62.1 ± 20.4) were higher than the scores of the unmarried patients (QOLIE = 58.4 ± 14.6 and the energy/fatigue = 62.1 ± 20.4) aged between 45 and 59 years. For the adult epilepsy patients, depression, anxiety, seizures within the last year, disease course, medical expense category, and marriage* age are negatively correlated with the quality of life. Occupation, educational level, and average monthly income are closely related to the quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Married adult epileptic patients have better quality of life than that of unmarried adult patients in young and middle-aged age groups. Unmarried adult patients with epilepsy are more anxious and depressed than married adult patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hospital Management, First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Fu-Li
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Programmed Immunization, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Tianjin Binhai New Area, Tianjin 300450, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Programmed Immunization, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Tianjin Binhai New Area, Tianjin 300450, China.
authors.forename: Bao-Yun
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epilepsy, First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epilepsy, First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Ze-Jie
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epilepsy, First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Cheng-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012640:Seizures / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult