Objective

The impact of epilepsy on work disability remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of patients with epilepsy who are unemployed or on temporary or permanent disability leave and to analyze associated clinical factors.

Methods

We performed an observational cross-sectional study of consecutively recruited patients with epilepsy seen at a specialized epilepsy unit or admitted to the epilepsy monitoring unit of a tertiary referral hospital. We analyzed the percentage of patients who were actively employed, unemployed, and on temporary or permanent disability leave. The groups were compared for sociodemographic data (age, sex, marital status, and type of work), clinical data (type of epilepsy, disease duration, monthly seizure frequency, and presence of anxiety or depression), treatment-related factors, and quality of life.

Results

We included 742 patients (53% male, mean age 44.3 ± 13.7 years old): 40.5% were employed, 29.2% were unemployed, 19% were on temporary disability leave, and 11.1% had a permanent work disability. Depressive symptoms and poorer quality of life were associated with unemployment (OR 2.3, p = 0.02 and OR 1.8, p = 0.01), temporary disability leave (OR 1.4, p = 0.05 and OR 1.7, p = 0.02), and permanent work disability (OR 1.9, p = 0.01 and OR 2.2, p = 0.01). Low-skilled work was also predictive of unemployment (OR 1.9, p = 0.04), temporary disability leave (OR 2.8, p = 0.03), and permanent work disability (OR 1.7, p = 0.04). A higher monthly seizure frequency was associated with permanent work disability (OR 2.01, p = 0.02).

Conclusion

Less than 50% of patients with epilepsy in our setting are working. Factors associated with unemployment and work disability are a higher frequency of seizures, low-skilled work, depressive symptoms, and poor quality of life.

中文翻译：

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与癫痫工作残疾相关的临床因素：在三级转诊医院的横断面研究

客观的

癫痫对工作残疾的影响尚不清楚。本研究的目的是确定失业或暂时或永久伤残假的癫痫患者的百分比，并分析相关的临床因素。

方法

我们对连续招募的癫痫患者在专门的癫痫病房就诊或入住三级转诊医院的癫痫监测病房进行了一项观察性横断面研究。我们分析了积极就业、失业和暂时或永久伤残假的患者百分比。比较这些组的社会人口学数据（年龄、性别、婚姻状况和工作类型）、临床数据（癫痫类型、疾病持续时间、每月癫痫发作频率以及是否存在焦虑或抑郁）、治疗相关因素和质量的生活。

结果

我们纳入了 742 名患者（53% 男性，平均年龄 44.3 ± 13.7 岁）：40.5% 有工作，29.2% 失业，19% 休临时残疾假，11.1% 有永久性工作残疾。抑郁症状和较差的生活质量与失业（OR 2.3，p  = 0.02 和 OR 1.8，p  = 0.01）、临时残疾假（OR 1.4，p  = 0.05 和 OR 1.7，p  = 0.02）和永久性工作残疾有关（OR 1.9，p  = 0.01 和 OR 2.2，p  = 0.01）。低技能工作也可预测失业（OR 1.9，p  = 0.04）、临时伤残假（OR 2.8，p  = 0.03）和永久性工作残疾（OR 1.7，p = 0.04）。较高的每月癫痫发作频率与永久性工作残疾有关（OR 2.01，p  = 0.02）。

结论

在我们的环境中，只有不到 50% 的癫痫患者在工作。与失业和工作残疾相关的因素是癫痫发作频率较高、低技能工作、抑郁症状和生活质量差。