Subjective Sleep Disturbance in People with Epilepsy: Prevalence and Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life

Abstract

Sleep is essential to the health and quality of life (QoL) of all individuals and is of particular relevance to people with epilepsy. The reciprocal interaction between sleep and epilepsy was recognized long ago. Sleep disturbances such as poor sleep quality, sleep deprivation and/or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) could easily provoke seizure recurrence, whereas epilepsy may disrupt sleep, either directly through seizures and epileptiform activity, or indirectly through medication-related effects.1 Some case-control studies found that poor sleep quality, difficulty sleeping, and/or excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) are two to three times more common in people with epilepsy than in healthy controls.2-4 Khatami et al.,5 however, found that sleep-wake habits and the frequency of most sleep disorders are similar in non-selected adults with epilepsy compared to healthy controls. The results from these studies are often not directly comparable, as the studies often used different questionnaires and heterogeneous patient populations, and were often complicated by the presence of various antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).1 Received: November 8, 2014 Revised: December 10, 2014 Accepted: December 22, 2014