RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Epilepsy is a chronic neurological syndrome that is accompanied by abnormal, synchronic and exaggerated discharges in the cerebral cortex. Epilepsy is inversely related to health-related quality of life (HRQL), although little has been published on this relationship in children in Latin America. AIM: To examine the relation between epilepsy and HRQL in a group of schoolchildren aged 8-12 years who were treated in a paediatric hospital in Sonora, Mexico. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare the HRQL of children diagnosed with epilepsy with respect to the HRQL of two control groups. The validated questionnaire Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory was used to evaluate HRQL. Differences were examined by means of an ANOVA test and the association between epilepsy and HRQL was modelled by means of multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: The children with epilepsy displayed the lowest HRQL score (62.4 ± 14.8) of the subjects studied and had 5.2 times as much risk of their HRQL deteriorating (95% confidence interval = 2.43-11.06) compared to healthy children. Deterioration was greater on the cognitive (54.6 ± 15.0) and emotional scales (55.9 ± 23.6). Polypharmacy, i.e. the concomitant ingestion of three or more drugs (p < 0.001), and the chronological progression of suffering (p < 0.001) are factors that significantly deteriorate the HRQL of children with epilepsy. CONCLUSIONS: Epilepsy gives rise to an overall deterioration in the HRQL of children, specifically in the cognitive and emotional spheres, which is related with the chronological progression of the disease and polypharmacy.
TITLE: Calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en niños con epilepsia de un hospital mexicano.Introduccion. La epilepsia es un sindrome neurologico cronico que cursa con descargas anormales, sincronicas y exageradas de la corteza cerebral. La epilepsia se relaciona inversamente con la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud de los pacientes (CVRS); sin embargo, esta relacion se ha documentado poco en niños de Latinoamerica. Objetivo. Examinar la relacion entre epilepsia y la CVRS en un grupo de niños escolares de 8-12 años atendidos en un hospital pediatrico de Sonora, Mexico. Pacientes y metodos. Se comparo transversalmente la CVRS de niños con diagnostico de epilepsia con respecto a la CVRS de dos grupos control. Se utilizo el cuestionario validado Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory para evaluar la CVRS. Las diferencias se examinaron mediante la prueba de ANOVA, y la asociacion entre epilepsia y CVRS se modelo mediante regresion logistica multiple. Resultados. Los niños con epilepsia mostraron la menor puntuacion de CVRS (62,4 ± 14,8) entre los sujetos estudiados, y tuvieron 5,2 veces mas riesgo de deterioro de su CVRS (intervalo de confianza al 95% = 2,43-11,06) en comparacion con el de niños sanos. El deterioro fue mayor en las escalas cognitiva (54,6 ± 15,0) y emocional (55,9 ± 23,6). La polifarmacia ingestion concomitante de tres o mas farmacos (p < 0,001) y la progresion cronologica de la enfermedad (p < 0,001) son factores que deterioran significativamente la CVRS de niños con epilepsia. Conclusiones. La epilepsia provoca un deterioro global en la CVRS de los niños, especificamente en las esferas cognitiva y emocional, lo que se relaciona con la progresion cronologica de la enfermedad y la polifarmacia.