Aim: The aim of this observational study was to test the effectiveness of the PARADISE 24 instrument in describing the psychosocial difficulties (PSDs) reported by people with epilepsy, their relation with disability, and quality-of-life (QoL) levels and, overall, to explore a horizontal epidemiology methodology applied to a sample of patients with epilepsy.
Methods: A convenience sample of 80 adult patients with epilepsy was included in this cross-sectional study. Patients were interviewed using a structured protocol composed of demographic, clinical, and patient-reported outcome measures to collect PSDs associated with epilepsy.
Results: There were 80 patients, 40 females; mean age was 41.2years; mean disease duration was 18.7years; and mean number of AED was 2.09. Moderate severity rating according to clinicians' rating scale, low impact of comorbidities (mean: 2.36, SD: 2.97), high levels of QoL (mean: 30.00, SD: 4.4), medium levels of resilience (mean: 13.56, SD: 2.66), high levels of perceived empathy (mean: 15.05, SD: 4.74), poor or moderate perceived social support, and low levels of disability (mean: 10.85, SD: 10.05) were observed. The most frequently reported PSDs were related to tiredness (80%), emotional problems (73.75%), anxiety (68.75%), depressive mood (66.25%), and driving problems (61.25%). The EUROHIS-QOL (p=.003) had a negative significant relationship with PARADISE 24 while WHODAS-12 (p=.000) and CRS (p=.027) had a positive significant relationship with PARADISE 24.
Conclusions: The PARADISE 24 permits data comparison and the creation of a complete description of a person's functioning and of all of his/her PSDs and allows better and more tailored interventions.
Keywords: Disability; Epilepsy; Horizontal epidemiology; Psychosocial difficulty; Quality of life.
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