Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with refractory epilepsy in Honduras
Keywords:
quality of life, refractory epilepsy, covid-19, pandemicAbstract
Introduction: Patients with refractory epilepsy are vulnerable to poor quality of life. The SARS-COV-2 pandemic could have effects on mental well-being and, therefore, affect the quality of life of these patients.
Objective: To evaluate the quality of life before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with refractory epilepsy treated at the Teching Hospital.
Methods: Data from a cohort of 52 patients with refractory epilepsy treated at the Teaching Hospital were analyzed. The QOLIE-31 and QOLIE-48 surveys were used to assess quality of life.
Results: Data from 47 adults and 5 adolescents (mean age 33.1±14.7 years) were analyzed. No precipitating factor for epilepsy was identified in 46.2 % of the cases; 61.5 % had focal seizures, and the monthly frequency of seizures was 5.0±7.0. 96.2 % used polytherapy, with a mean of 2.6±0.7 anti-seizure medications. There were no statistically significant changes in the total score comparison before and after the pandemic in adults (p = 0.135) or adolescents (p = 0.917). A statistically significant difference was observed after the onset of the pandemic in the axes of general perception of quality of life (p = 0.013) and medication effects (p = 0.020) in adults, and in the school behavior of adolescents (p = 0.046).
Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted specific componentes of quality of life in paciente with refractory epilepsy.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Javier Alfredo Lagos-Servellón, Lilian Sosa-Díaz, Marcio Omar Madrid-Alvarado, Yolly Molina, Carlos Agudelo-Santos, Jose Zablah, Salvador Enrique Díaz-Cano, Selvin Z. Reyes-García
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