Coping styles and quality of life in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) : a South African perspective

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary aim of this study was to explore a possible association between the coping styles and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) in the South African context. Twenty-two PNES patients (aged 14 years or older) with confirmed video EEG were recruited from Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic and Tygerberg Hospital. These participants were matched by age and gender with a healthy control group. Participants had to complete a demographic questionnaire as well as self-reported measures of HRQOL (SF-36v2 health survey) and coping strategies (the Ways of Coping (WOC) and the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI)). Analyses of variances were performed to explore the differences between the PNES group and the healthy control group on the various measurement instruments. The association between specific coping strategies and HRQOL was investigated by calculating Pearson's correlation coefficient. Multiple regressions were conducted to determine the extent to which HRQOL could be accounted for by each of the coping instruments. The results indicated that the HRQOL of the PNES group were significantly lower than the HRQOL of the healthy control group. The PNES participants utilised significantly more emotion-focused coping strategies, such as escape-avoidance and distancing coping strategies, in comparison to the healthy control group. The WOC and the CSI accounted respectively for 56% and 42% of the variance in the HRQOL of the sample. The results also indicated that the escape-avoidance coping strategies utilised by PNES participants had a significant negative effect on their HRQOL. The findings of this study provided greater insight into the coping strategies utilised by PNES participants, which have been identified as a risk factor in PNES. It also highlights that the type of coping strategies utilised by the PNES participants in our sample had a significant negative influence on their level of HRQOL. This is the first study of this nature on people with PNES in South Africa.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University