A psychosocial self-management program for epilepsy: a randomized pilot study in adults.

Objective: The goal of the work described here was to develop and pilot a theoretically based self-management intervention in adults with epilepsy.

Methods: A randomized, controlled trial examined intervention effectiveness of a 6-week psychosocial intervention designed to improve self-efficacy and quality of life for 61 adults with diagnosed epilepsy. Measures included the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-89 inventory (QOLIE-89), the Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory (WPSI), a locus of control scale (LOC), and the Epilepsy Self-Efficacy Scale-2000 (ESES). Group differences were examined between groups using analysis of covariance.

Results: There was a significant improvement in the QOLIE-89 Role Limitations-Emotional score in the treatment group at follow-up, but no significant differences in overall quality of life. Strong and significant correlations were observed between outcome measures.

Conclusion: Although the intervention had little effect on improving overall quality of life, we observed promising trends in postintervention group comparisons linking self-efficacy and other psychosocial factors with quality of life. Intervention material can be modified for stage-based behavior change and retested in another study.