Pharmacy Practice Faculty Publications

Seizure Action Plans for Pediatric Patients with Epilepsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2019

Journal Title

Journal of Child Neurology

ISSN

1708-8283

Volume

34

Issue

11

First Page

666

Last Page

673

DOI

10.1177/0883073819846810

PubMed ID

31156013

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Seizure action plans help patients and caregivers better self-manage their epilepsy. We hypothesized that providing pediatric patients and their caregivers with a seizure action plan would reduce unplanned health care utilization and decrease the impact of epilepsy.

METHODS: We developed a seizure action plan for use in pediatric epilepsy patients. A prospective cohort was randomly assigned to receive a seizure action plan in addition to standard epilepsy care or to standard epilepsy care alone. All caregivers were surveyed using the Modified Impact on Families (MIF) questionnaire at enrollment, 3 months, and 12 months. Health care utilization measures and Modified Impact on Families questionnaire scores were compared between the 2 groups.

RESULTS: Fifty-four patients received a seizure action plan and standard care, whereas 48 received standard care alone. The groups had similar demographics. There was a significantly higher proportion of overall clinic appointment no shows in the standard care group vs the seizure action plan group (

SIGNIFICANCE: Caregivers for patients with epilepsy receiving a seizure action plan were more comfortable regarding seizure care and missed fewer appointments. However, differences in health care utilization were not present. The seizure action plan appears to have more impact in patients who experience lower seizure frequencies. Further studies evaluating the impact as well as assessing caregivers' perceptions of the seizure action plan using a larger sample are needed.

Keywords

Adolescent, caregivers, child, epilepsy, female, humans, male, patient acceptance of health care, prospective studies, quality of life, seizures, surveys, questionnaires

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