ABSTRACT
In the field of epilepsy, the formal assessment of quality of life is a relatively recent science. Increasing emphasis on questions about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of treatments for epilepsy, combined with political and philosophical pressures to take note of the patient's perspective in health care, has led to increased demand for tools by which these can be robustly measured. This, in turn, has highlighted a number of theoretical and methodological questions about how quality of life (QoL) should be assessed within the context of this chronic condition. The debate about QoL assessment in epilepsy is part of a much wider debate about QoL assessment in medicine generally, where QoL has been described as ‘the new catch phrase’ (Slevin, 1992). Despite continuing controversy about whether QoL assessment can best be regarded as sound academic endeavour or mere whim of fashion, it is a topic to which a clear political agenda now attaches and so continues to generate considerable interest in epilepsy, as in other areas of health care provision. In this chapter, the concept of QoL will be reviewed and issues around its assessment will be considered.
