A large number of factors have to be taken into consideration to evaluate the severity of intractable partial epilepsy. These inter-related factors change with compliance and with the frequency of seizures as well as the psycho-social context. We discuss here the different factors which are directly or indirectly related with epilepsy. In clinical practice, only some of these factors are used as criteria of severity. The only truly effective method of determining the real consequences of epilepsy are quality of life could measurements.