| Summary: | 碩士 === 慈濟醫學院 === 護理學研究所 === 88 === This study was a correlational study designed to investigate quality of life in patients with epilepsy. Subjects were patients with epilepsy being treated with medication who presented at medical centers in the North and South of Taiwan, secondary medical centers in the Central and Eastern regions, and at a regional teaching hospital. Data from a total of 122 subjects were collected between January 1, 2000 and March 31, 2000. Purposive sampling was used, and the Measure of Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory -89(QOLIE-89) was employed for data collection after subject consent was obtained. The sample consisted of 63 men and 59 women with a mean age of 30.18 years (range 17-51 years, SD=7.38). SPSS 8.0 for Windows was used for data analysis.
Study results show that the Measure of Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory -89(QOLIE-89) was a reliable and valid measure of quality of life for epilepsy sufferers, with a Cronbach''s Alpha range between 0.64 and 0.92. Statistical analysis showed that the average score of quality of life is 67.36 (range 29.23-94.13, SD=14.52) while its value ranges from 0 to 100. The highest average score among all dimensions is 77.15 (physical health dimension, SD=1.38) and the lowest one is 60.08 (epilepsy target dimension, SD=2.00). These data demonstrate that the score in quality of life and all dimensions are above the average with the better function in physical health dimension and the worse function in epilepsy target dimension. Statistical analysis also showed that educational attainment, employment, monthly household income, age at onset, frequency of seizures, type of medication and other medications taken concurrently had a significant influence on quality of life. Stepwise regression showed that the four factors most predictive of quality of life were frequency of seizures, educational attainment, employment and other medications taken concurrently. These factors accounted for 35% of the variance in quality of life.
The study serves as a preliminary assessment of the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the form, and as a preliminary investigation of the factors which influence quality of life for patients with epilepsy. Medical personnel should find the results useful in helping patients to maximize their quality of life and minimize the adjustments needed for their epilepsy.
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