This was a prospective-observational study, in which 200 patients enrolled over a 12-month period completed standard surveys while admitted to our level-4 EMU. These included Quality of life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-31), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II).  Other clinical information was extracted from the electronic chart. 

Of the 200 participants, 113 had a diagnosis of epilepsy and 36 had the diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, while 51 were excluded due to either a non-diagnostic evaluation or a mixed disorder. PWE had an average age of onset of 18±13 years and 30% of PWE had seizures at least once a week. Among PWE, 41% were on 3 or more anti-seizure medications, 72% didn't drive, and 55% weren't working.

Seizure severity (including seizure duration, frequency, number of antiepileptic medications), socioeconomic status (including work and driving status), depression and anxiety (with BDI-II and GAD-7 measurements respectively) were used in a hierarchal regression model to predict QOL. Seizure duration, GAD-7, and BDI-II scores were inversely with final QOL score (r²= -0.30, -0.73, -0.73, p<0.05). After adjustment for seizure severity and socioeconomic status , the severity of depression and anxiety explained an additional 55% variance of QOL (p< 0.001).