ABSTRACT
In the treatment of epilepsy, the primary goal is the reduction of seizure activity. In a few cases, it seems possible to ameliorate seizure activity completely. The two major treatments in the management of epilepsy are drug therapy and surgery. Numerous studies annually provide persuasive evidence that these two interventions may elicit both therapeutic and detrimental outcomes or, often, both. The primary focus of quantitative research on epilepsy is the efficacy of treatment methods. It is imperative to quantify the effects of treatments to ensure that the most effective treatments are employed in clinical practice and to safeguard against the risk of the use of potentially harmful treatments. The importance of the quantification of outcomes in health-care research has been highlighted by Sechrest and Cohen (1979): (a) potential harm of interventions, (b) failure to develop more effective measures, (c) reduction of costs, (d) accountability, and (e) verification of improvement. Unfortunately, several factors frequently confound or weaken the findings of these evaluation studies. The standardization of a treatment program often is open to question, because treatments tend to be complex, delivered by poorly trained or unmotivated people, and can be disrupted totally by events in the real world (Sechrest, West, Phillips, Redner, & Yeaton, 1979).
