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Document Type

Original Article

Abstract

Background:
Epilepsy is a chronic disorder or group of chronic disorder in which the indispensable feature is recurrence of seizures that are typically unprovoked and usually unpredictable. It is well established that non-adherence to antiepileptic drugs may lead to a loss of seizure control. Negative outcomes that may be associated with a loss of seizure control include: injury, increase hospitalizations, and decrease in productivity. All of these contribute to increased direct and indirect healthcare costs related to epilepsy.

Objective:
To determine factors leading to noncompliance with antiepileptic drugs in patients attending a tertiary care hospital.

Methods & Results:
In the crosssectional study design, total 203 patients, attending neurology outpatient clinic at Department of Neurology Civil Hospital Karachi, Pakistan, from August, 2010 to February, 2011, with epilepsy were included in the study. Non probability, purposive sampling technique was applied. Detailed history was taken from each patient. A structured proforma was filled for each patient at the time of visit and note was made of the factors that were responsible for non-compliance. Overall mean (±SD) age was 29.1 ±16.9 years (ranging from 6 to 60 years) with Male: Female = 1.9: 1. Most common reason for non compliance was high cost of antiepileptic drugs 126 (62.1%) followed by unemployment in 58 (28.6%) patients, more than one antiepileptic drug in 35 (17.2%) patients, side effects of antiepileptic drugs 19 (9.4%), freedom free periods from fits 18 (8.9%), deviation from prescription 13 (6.4%) and Non Availability of drugs 12 (5.9%).

Conclusion:
In this study, high cost of antiepileptic drugs was the most common reason for non compliance and non-availability of drugs was the least common reason. While unemployment was the second common reason for non-compliance

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