Changes in the quality of life of persons with epilepsy, after the implementation of an occupational therapy intervention with drama activities.

PURPOSE: Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that affects all domains of daily living. Especially, in the case of drug resistance, it is usually associated with impairment of quality of life (QOL). The opportunity to self-express is crucial for maintaining mental health. Therefore, many non-pharmaceutical interventions have been utilized to relieve psychiatric symptoms, such as fear, anxiety, and depression in persons with epilepsy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of the occupational therapy program with drama activities (ODTA) on the QOL of patients with epilepsy. METHODS: In total, 15 patients with epilepsy from the region of Thrace, Greece, were enrolled in a 3-month OTDA program focusing on the relief of anxiety symptoms and self-regulation. Each patient's QOL was measured using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31) mean scores. The reliability change index was calculated and the Wilcoxon paired test was used to determine QOL changes post-intervention compared to pre-intervention. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvements were observed in fear of having a seizure (p =.004), overall quality (p =.001), emotional well-being (p =.004), energy fatigue (p =.014), and total QOLIE (p =.001) score after the intervention. The changes in the QOLIE score were more prominent among female individuals (male vs female: p =.028 vs p =.008). CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of providing an ODTA program in patients with epilepsy and proposes its broader combined application as a complementary intervention in such patients.

The Greek version of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31).

This study is presenting the translation and cultural adaptation into Greek of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31). We adapted the QOLIE-31 to Greek through a procedure of translation-back-translation. Sixty-three patients were interviewed and completed the QOLIE-31 and the GHQ questionnaires. We re-examined a subset of them after a period of 2-5 weeks to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the questionnaire. We assessed the convergent validity by comparison of the QOLIE-31 and the GHQ and QOLIE-31 subscales and external measures. Discriminative validity was evaluated using the method of known-groups comparisons. The internal consistency was high for the QOLIE-31 and its' subscales (Cronbach's alpha 0.92 and 0.59-0.83 respectively). Test-retest reliability was acceptable (intra-class correlation coefficient 0.49-0.89 and Pearson's coefficient 0.53-0.92) for the group of patients who were re-examined. Comparison of the QOLIE-31 and GHQ scores showed agreement between the two questionnaires (Pearson's coefficient -0.61). We demonstrated the discriminative validity by the difference in the QOLIE-31 scores between patients with different seizure frequencies and different employment status. We concluded that the Greek version of the QOLIE-31 has psychometric properties equivalent to those of the original American-English version and is a valid and reliable instrument.