COMPARISON OF QUALITY OF LIFE OF CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY AND NORMAL CHILDREN

Abstract

Introduction : Epilepsy is the second most common and frequently encountered neurological condition that enforce heavy burden on families, and on healthcare system. Almost 1% of all children have epilepsy with highest incidence in the preschool years (3-6 years).1 The objectives of study were to assess and compare the quality of life of children with epilepsy and normal children; to find out the association between the quality of life of children with epilepsy and selected variables. Methods : Quantitative research approach was used to compare the quality of life of children with epilepsy and normal children. The sample comprised of 30 Children with epilepsy and their parent from pediatric OPD of UPUMS Saifai and 30 Normal children and their parent from Niloi, Jaswant Nagar, and Etawah were selected purposively. The data was collected by PedsQL version 4 inventory. The final study was conducted in the month of December 2016 and January 2017. Result : Findings of the study showed the overall mean score of quality of life of normal children was higher than the overall mean score of children with epilepsy. The computed t-value was found to be statistically significant at 0.05 level of significance shows that the normal children had the better quality of life than the children with epilepsy. Study further showed that there was no significant difference found between mean score of Children with epilepsy and normal children as assessed by child report or parent report of Peds QL version 4 inventory. Conclusion : Normal children had better quality of life than children with epilepsy and the quality of life of normal children and epilepsy children can be assessed by either of child report or parent report of Peds QL version 4 inventory A study can be replicated on a larger sample of children with epilepsy and normal children with their parents from areas of Uttar Pradesh for wider generalization of the findings.