Abstracts

Rationale: To examine the impact of epilepsy on quality of life of children compared to nearest aged siblings , as well as to further investigate the impact of epilepsy thru the use of the HARCES and ICND scales Methods: All children with epilepsy ages 3-17 whom had a non-epileptic sibling in same age group seen thru the Neurology Clinic at the Alberta Children's Hospital were identified as potential participants for the study. Parents were asked to complete Global Quality of Life Linear scales for both children and Hague Restrictions in Epilepsy Scales and Impact of Child Neurologic Disability Scales for the child with epilepsy Results: Fifty children with epilepsy (age range 3-17 , gender M 25, F 25) and Fifty siblings who acted as the controls ( age range 3-17 gender M 20 - F 30 ) participated in the study.Quality of life measurement using the Global Quality of Life Linear Scale was significantly different (p<0.0001) betwen children with epilepsy (4.57 +/- 0.92 ) and their siblings(5.30 +/- 0.71). The HARCES found the average score of 18.89 Of the 49 children who completed this scale 3( 6%)scored 10 (no disability) 23 ( 47%) scored 11-15 ( slight disability ) 13 (26% ) scored between 16-25 ,Mild 4 (8%) 26-30 moderate 6 ( 12%) 31 -40 severe disability.On the ICNDS average was 40 with a range of (0-108) 14 scored than 20(less impact ), (28%) 20 scored 21-50 (40 %)(moderate impact ),with 16 scoring 50-108 (32%)(severe impact)