PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a specialized inpatient rehabilitation program in patients with early in comparison with chronic epilepsy.Methods: We performed a prospective, open pre/post study using a parallel group design. Patients with early epilepsy (EE, treatment with anti-seizure medication [ASM] <= 1 year) or with chronic epilepsy (CE, ASM treatment > 5 years) completed questionnaires at the time of their admission to the rehabilitation program and at discharge. Outcome measures comprised scales from the PESOS questionnaire (PErformance, SOciodemographic aspects, Subjective estimation; e.g., emotional adaptation to epilepsy) as well as screening instruments for depression (Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy, NDDI-E) and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, GAD-7). Linear mixed models (LMMs) were used to determine the effects of the program in the total group and to compare the effects between patients with EE and CE.Results: The analyses included 79 patients with EE and 157 patients with CE. Baseline comparisons revealed differences in disease-related and sociodemographic variables (e.g., patients with EE were older, those with CE had a higher seizure frequency and a higher rate of unemployment; all p < .01). LMMs showed significant improvements in emotional adaptation to epilepsy, depression, anxiety, overall qual-ity of life and overall health as well as in perceived overall restrictions because of epilepsy and the sub-jective level of information about epilepsy (all p < .001). Despite the different duration of epilepsy, baseline levels as well as improvements did not differ between patients with EE and CE (all p > .05) except for the perceived level of information, which was significantly lower in patients with EE at admission and improved to a higher extent in this group (both p < .001).Conclusion: Both patients with EE and patients with CE who are referred to a specialized comprehensive rehabilitation program benefit from the participation in this program with respect to emotional adapta-tion to epilepsy, aspects of quality of life, and level of information about epilepsy.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.