A new Canadian study has shown that the health-related quality of life of children with epilepsy declines initially during the immediate postdiagnosis period, but eventually improves to levels close to those reported for healthy children.
The study was conducted by Dr. Kathy Speechley of the University of Western Ontario. This study was part of the largest prospective investigation of the health-related quality of life of children newly diagnosed with epilepsy to date, Dr. Speechley and her colleagues assessed children between the ages of 4 and 12 years with new-onset epilepsy from the time of their diagnosis through 24 months using two validated parent-report measures.
However, not all patients in the study improved, and there was a wide range in how their health-related quality of life was scored at baseline and then changed over the 2-year study period. The most common trajectories for health-related quality of life in these patients could possibly be explained through clusters of child, family, and health care factors that will be important to identify for managing and counseling patients and their families, said Dr. Speechley.
You can read more information here: Quality of Life of Children with New Epilepsy Diagnosis Improves With Time
