Psychosocial impact of epileptic seizures in a Dutch epilepsy population: A comparative Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory Study

Purpose: The psychosocial functioning of epilepsy patients from the Netherl ands was investigated and compared with results from other countries. The i mpact of epilepsy was also studied in two different groups of Dutch epileps y patients, inpatients and outpatients. Methods: The Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory (WPSI) was used to s tudy the psychosocial problems of 134 Dutch outpatients and 181 Dutch inpat ients. WPSI profiles were compared with those from the former German Democr atic Republic (West Germany), Finland, Canada, the United States, Chile, an d Japan. Results: For the Dutch epilepsy patients, most of the psychosocial problems were experienced by inpatients; they had serious problems in emotional, in terpersonal, and vocational adjustment, adjustment to seizures, and overall psychosocial functioning. Seizure-free outpatients, however, experienced s ignificant problems only in the emotional adjustment area. Comparing the ou tcomes of various countries, Dutch outpatients and patients from West Germa ny and Finland experienced the least psychosocial difficulties, whereas epi lepsy patients from Chile, Japan, and Canada have serious problems in most areas of psychosocial functioning. Conclusions: Patients with epilepsy experience psychosocial problems, altho ugh the amount of psychosocial difficulties depends on the seizure frequenc y and the culture that patients live in.