Health-related quality of life and associated factors among epileptic patients on treatment follow up at public hospitals of Wollega zones, Ethiopia, 2018

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life and its associated factors among epileptic patients in public hospitals of Wollega zones, Ethiopia. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on 402 epileptic patients, from March 01 to March 30, 2018. Multiple linear regression with backward elimination was used, and all analyses were conducted at the 0.05 significance level. RESULTS: The overall mean total score on the WHOQOL-BREF scale was 60.47 with ± 23.07 SD. Monthly income ≤ 500 EB (β = - 12.49, P < 0.001), living alone (β = - 7.11, P = 0.007), adverse drug reaction (β = - 10.86, P < 0.001), comorbidity of anxiety (β = - 12.99, P < 0.001), perceived social stigma (β = - 9.73, P < 0.001) and frequency of seizure once per week (β = - 8.41, P = 0.001) were negatively associated with quality of life of epileptic patients. The mean quality of life of patients living with epilepsy in this study was low. The clinician should early recognize and treat drug side effects, detect and manage comorbidity, and control seizure in order to increase quality of life of epileptic patients.