Physical activity status and quality of life in patients with epilepsy - Survey from level four epilepsy monitoring units.

PURPOSE: People with epilepsy (PWE) tend to have sedentary lifestyles which may predispose them to a lower perceived quality of life (QOL). Moreover, the relationship between physical activity (PA) and QOL in populations of PWE with high disease burden has been under-studied. The goal of this study was to evaluate PA level and its impact on health-related QOL in PWE who were admitted to Level-4 epilepsy monitoring units (EMU). METHODS: In this prospective observational study, 200 patients from two EMUs in Dallas, Texas completed the following standard surveys: Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA), the Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-31), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) questionnaire. Information on self-reported epilepsy history, severity of disease, and socioeconomic status were also collected. The diagnosis of epilepsy was confirmed by video-EEG monitoring. RESULTS: Among the 200 who completed the survey, 113 had a diagnosis of epilepsy and 109 of them completed the RAPA. Ninety-two (84 %) of these PWE reported a sedentary level of physical activity (RAPA < 6) and 16 % reported an active level (RAPA ≥ 6). Self-reported QOL was slightly higher in PWE with an active level of PA compared to PWE with a sedentary level of PA (63.8 ± 15.0 vs 53.7 ± 17.9, p = 0.07), even though there was no difference in the severity of self-reported mood symptoms. After controlling for employment and seizure frequency, physical activity level measured by RAPA score was also positively related to QOL (r = 0.39, p = 0.01) and negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms (r = -0.28, p = 0.02) and depression symptoms (r = -0.25, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The majority of PWE in this survey reported sedentary lifestyles despite most of them being young to middle-aged adults. Higher PA level was associated with fewer self-reported mood symptoms and higher QOL. In conjunction with the literature, these results suggest that PWE with a wide range of disease burden should be encouraged to participate in regular exercise to potentially improve QOL.

Provocative induction of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Noninferiority of an induction technique without versus with placebo.

We aim to demonstrate, in a sufficiently powered and standardized study, that the success rate of inducing psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) without placebo (saline infusion) is noninferior to induction with placebo. The clinical data of 170 consecutive patients with suspected PNES who underwent induction with placebo from January 21, 2009 to March 31, 2013 were pair-matched with 170 consecutive patients with suspected PNES who underwent the same induction technique but without addition of placebo from April 1, 2013 to February 7, 2018 at the same center. The success rates of induction were 79.4% (135/170) without placebo and 73.5% (125/170) with placebo. The difference of these two proportions was 5.9%, with two-sided 95% confidence interval ranging from -3.6% to 15.2%, indicating a non-statistically significant difference. The lower bound of the 95% confidence interval (-3.6%) was above the noninferiority margin (δ = -5%), hence inferring noninferiority of induction without versus with placebo. The greater cumulative induction experiences of the clinician performer (influencing the manner/presentation of induction) may supplant the potential advantage from addition of placebo (the means utilized). Among experienced performers, provocative induction without placebo should be the preferred diagnostic approach, given more ethically acceptable transparency and the noninferior success rate when compared to the same induction technique with placebo.