Educational achievement, employment, marriage, and driving in adults with childhood-onset epilepsy

Abstract

BackgroundPeople with epilepsy (PWE) beginning in childhood often experience psychological and social hold-ups in addition to seizures. The hold-ups relate to education, employment, driving, and marriage. ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to document the impact of long-standing, childhood-onset epilepsy on sociopersonal accomplishments of adults pertaining to education, employment, marriage, and driving. MethodsA prospective, questionnaire-based survey was undertaken in a hospital-based sample of PWE and their unaffected (by epilepsy) older siblings within the immediate/extended family unit. ResultsPeople with epilepsy were significantly more likely to abandon formal education after primary (6; 2.4% compared to none in controls) or secondary (69; 31.1% compared with controls 58; 26.1%) school, less likely to be currently married (97; 43.7%) when compared with their elder siblings (158; 71.2%) (P = 0.0001), and less likely to be currently employed (103; 46.4%) (P = 0.0001) or driving (111; 50%) (P = 0.0001) compared with the older same-gender siblings (employed: 148; 66.7%; driving: 165; 74.3%). In multivariate models, having epilepsy and age were associated with employment status, whereas age and education and employment status were associated with both marriage and driving. ConclusionNotwithstanding the influence of a number of socioeconomic and epilepsy-related variables, childhood-onset epilepsy stands apart in exerting a huge negative impact on educational achievement, employability, marital status, and driving in adulthood.