Pregnancy, epilepsy and quality of lifeOPINION
Pregnancy, epilepsy and quality of life
Gravidez, epilepsia e qualidade de vida
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Dear Editor,
I read the recent report on pregnancy, epilepsy and quality of life with a great interest1. Lunardi et al. concluded that "pregnancy could be interpreted as a stressor1" and "In late pregnancy when this stressor was removed, women with epilepsy had improvement in their quality of life1." There are several concerns on this work. First, few subjects with imbalance controls might mean bias and statistically unacceptability. Quality of life might be the result of many factors rather than pregnancy and epilepsy. The adjustment for confounding factors especially for socioeconomic status is required. Second, it is required to further study on the level of quality of life and the exact episode of epilepsy, during pregnancy and before pregnant period. In addition, the stess as mentioned by the authors should be further considered in the postpartum period. The "blue" or pospartum stress is also mentioned as a factor impairing quality of life of the women with epilepsy2.
References
- 1 Lunardi LL, Costa ALC, Guerreiro CAM, Souza EAP. Quality of life in pregnant women with epilepsy versus women with epilepsy. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2011;69:336-341.
- 2 Turner K, Piazzini A, Franza A, et al. Postpartum depression in women with epilepsy versus women without epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav 2006;9:293-297.
