ABSTRACT
Over the last two decades, interest in documenting the quality of life of people with epilepsy has moved from what Scambler1 has described as 'pre-formal studies' to its formal quantification as an indicator of health outcome.2,3 Hermann4 has proposed that any attempt at quantifying quality of life in relation to epilepsy must adopt a broad vision of the term, since the nature of the condition is such that any assessment must encompass both 'within-the-skin' and 'beyond-the-skin' variables. Her mann's list of essential domains for quality-of-life assessments in epilepsy covers symptoms, functional status, social functioning, sleep and rest, energy, health perceptions, general life satisfac tion, role activities, emotional state and cognition. His view is supported by empirical investigations,5-7 which have identified a wide range of quality-of-life concerns among people with epilepsy. In this chapter we shall describe the quality-of-life measures currently available for epilepsy, and give examples of their application as measures of outcome. However, in order to contextualise our discussion, we shall begin with a brief exam ination of the key clinical considerations and the significance of a diagnosis of epilepsy from a social scientific perspective, since both have an important bearing on its impact on quality of life.
