Differences in the quality of life of epileptic patients with and without sleep disturbance

Abstract

Objective: To compare differences in quality of life in epilepsy patients with and without sleep disorders. Methods: An analytic comparative observational method with a cross-sectional study was conducted to patients that have been diagnosed with epilepsy for at least one year. The sample was derived using a consecutive sampling method with inclusion criteria at the RSUP Dr. Wahidin Sudiohusodo, collaborative hospital, and private practice in April–May 2019. Independent variable: quality of sleep assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire. Dependent variable: insomnia assessed by Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and quality of life assessed by Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31). Statistical analysis was conducted using the unpaired t-test, Mann–Whitney test, and Chi-square test. Results: Sixty-eight subjects met the inclusion criteria; 35 subjects with good sleep quality and 33 subjects with poor sleep quality, consist of 5 subjects with no clinically significant insomnia, 16 subthreshold insomnia, nine moderate insomnia, and three severe insomnia. The results showed a significant difference between 2 groups (p = 0.018). A significant difference (p = < 0.01) can be seen in the component of overall quality of life, emotional well-being, energy/fatigue, and social function. While in seizure worry (p = 0.256), cognitive (p = 0.261) and medication effects (p = 0.897) the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: There are differences in the quality of life of epileptic patients with and without sleep disturbance. Epileptic patients with sleep disturbance have a poorer quality of life compared to epileptic patients without sleep disturbance. © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).