The General and Social Health Long-Term Outcome of Adult Epilepsy Patients at the Kork Epilepsy Center

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The majority of epidemiological studies show that there is an increased burden of somatic comorbidities among people with epilepsy (PWE) compared with the general population. We sought that in the subgroup of patients with satisfactory and stable seizure situation and healthy style of living, the general health and quality of life might be similar to people without epilepsy and investigated the long-term outcome and the prevalence of comorbidities and the social outcome of adult patients who had been continuously treated at our center for at least 25 years. Material and methods We consecutively collected our adult out-patients for 10 months and identified those patients who had been treated at our center for at least 25 years. Among this group we assessed demographic data, epilepsy syndrome, seizure situation, antiepileptic therapy, the number of previous AEDs, the socioeconomic situation and co-morbidities. Results Out of a total of 1672 patients, 14.4 % (n = 241) patients fulfilled our inclusion criterion. In 200 the files allowed an appropriate analysis of the data. Mean treatment duration in Kork was 36 years (25 – 52). 60% of patients were seizure-free for more than one year. 80% of the seizure-free patients did not complain of adverse events. Adverse events were more often among patients with ongoing seizures. Somnolence, gait disturbances and tremor were the leading symptoms. Better seizure outcome correlated with higher education, better professional education and lower unemployment rates. Diseases such as cardiovascular diseases or diabetes mellitus were not more frequent than in the general population. PWE do not have necessarily an impaired prognosis of their general health.