PHARMACQEPIDEMIOLOGY zy The Health Status of Adults With Epilepsy Compared With That of People Without Chronic Conditions Anita K. Wagner, Pharm.D., Kathleen M. Bungay, Pharm.D., Mark Kosinski, M.A., Edward B. Bromfield, M.D., and Bruce L. Ehrenberg, M.D. Study Objectives. To examine the feasibility of administering and the psychometric properties of a general health status questionnaire in adults with epilepsy, and to assess the health status of these patients. Design. Prospective, cross-sectional, observational study. Setting. Neurology clinic of a tertiary care medical center. Patients. One hundred forty-eight ambulatory adults with epilepsy. Interventions. Patients completed the SF-36, a general health status questionnaire. Respondent burden and data quality as well as psychometric characteristics were evaluated. Patients’ SF-36 scale scores, adjusted for comorbidities, were compared with those of 641 people without chronic conditions with the same sociodemographic characteristics. Measurements and Main Results. Administering the SF-36 to adult outpatients with epilepsy is feasible and results are psychometrically sound. Compared with those who were not ill, patients had significantly (p<O.OOl) lower (0 = worst, 100 = best) scores in six of the eight SF-36 domains: general health perceptions (57.7 vs 82.1), mental health (61.3 vs 79.6), vitality (53.5 vs 67.8), role limitations owing to physical (69.6 vs 95.0) and emotional problems (67.2 vs 88.4), and social functioning (75.2 vs 89.9). Conclusions. Lower SF-36 scores may reflect patients’ assessments of the balance among epilepsy, seizures, and antiepileptic drug therapy-related effects. Incorporating health status information into therapeutic decision making may help to attain the ultimate goal of improving patients’ health. (Pharmacotherapy 1996;16(1):1-9) From The Health Institute (Drs. Wagner and Bungay, and Mr. Kosinski), Department of Pharmacy (Drs. Wagner and Bungay), and Department Of (Dr. Ehrenberg), New England Medical Center; and the Division of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Dr. Bromfield), Boston, Massachusetts. Supported by the Department of Pharmacy and the Health Institute, New England Medical Center, Boston. Presented in part at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, Miami, December 6, 1993, and at the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists’ conference on applying patient outcomes and pharmacoeconomics in pharmaceutical care, Boston, September 13, 1994. Address reprint requests to Anita K. Wagner, Pharm.D., The Health Institute, New England Medical Center, Box 345, 750 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111. Epilepsy and antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy greatly affect the daily lives of patients. It has experienced by these individuals are more handicapping than the seizures themselves. Sixty-one percent of those who responded to a 1992 Roper poll indicated that seizures keep them from doing things they want to do, and they reported significant problems holding jobs, seeking work, and going to school.2 Calls received at an epilepsy information center reflect Some Of the stressors that affect these people, such as economic problems, difficulty obtaining been suggested that the psycho so cia^ problems