Anxiety, Depression, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Family Caregivers of Patients with Epilepsy

Abstract

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that imposes substantial physical, psychological, and social burdens not only on patients but also on their family caregivers. Although psychiatric comorbidities and impaired quality of life have been extensively investigated in patients with epilepsy, the psychological well-being and health-related quality of life of their caregivers remain insufficiently studied. This study aimed to evaluate anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life among family caregivers of patients with epilepsy and to identify patient-related factors associated with these outcomes. The study included three groups: patients with epilepsy, their caregivers, and healthy controls. Differences in scale scores between two groups were analyzed using the independent-samples t -test, whereas comparisons among three or more groups were performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Associations between categorical variables were evaluated using Pearson's chi-square test or the likelihood ratio test, depending on the distribution of the data. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated for continuous variables. A p -value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Caregivers of patients with epilepsy had significantly higher anxiety and depression scores than healthy controls. These findings indicate an increased prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among caregivers. Furthermore, evaluation of quality of life using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire demonstrated significant impairment across all quality-of-life domains in the caregiver group. The findings suggest that being a caregiver of a patient with epilepsy is, by itself, an important factor adversely affecting emotional well-being and quality of life. Changes in caregivers' mood status and quality of life were not associated with the patients' sex, seizure type, or seizure frequency.