Quality of life among patients with epilepsy in Nigeria: predictors and barriers to routine clinical use of QOLIE-31.

PURPOSE To determine the factors predicting poorer quality of life (QOL) among patients with epilepsy attending an out-patient clinic in a Nigerian tertiary hospital, and reflect on the barriers to successful adoption of a structured QOL instrument into routine clinical practice. METHODS Two-hundred and seventy patients with a diagnosis of epilepsy attending the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Abeokuta, Nigeria were recruited. Sociodemographic and clinical information were collected using a proforma. QOLIE-31 was administered to measure QOL. RESULTS The mean (SD) QOLIE-31 scores were 77.98 (13.32), with 15.2%, 74.1%, and 10.7% of the respondents classified as low, moderate, and high QOL, respectively. Factors associated with poorer QOL include seizure frequency, depression, and family history of epilepsy. CONCLUSION Quality of life is an important outcome measure for people with epilepsy and it focuses on the individual's subjective assessment of their well-being. Although useful for clinical management of patients with epilepsy, the uniqueness of the practice settings and the limitations of clinical practice in a developing country pose challenges to successful adoption of structured QOL instrument into routine clinical practice.