Psycho-social issues in drug-resistant patients : Results of a survey

In the evaluation of a drug-resistant patient it is very important to consider not only his/her situation with respect to seizures but also his/her psycho-social adjustment. We sent to 119 drug-resistant patients with partial epilepsy a 34 items questionnaire. We obtained 76 answers (63%) that we analyzed singly and with respect to the occupational situation applying the Thorbecke-Janz scale. 21% of patients in spite of a very high seizure frequency is regularly working. 44.7% of patients is unemployed 55.2% of patients consider their occupational situation satisfactory and 31.5% consider that it is conditioned not only by seizures but also by chronic AEDs. We think that data reported above, among others, will be very helpful in the everyday work with this group of patients and in carrying out a program directed to improve their life quality.