{"title":"Psychosocial burden in mothers with epilepsy and their caregiver: Feasibility and preliminary results of a digital screening procedure","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.110017","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a digital procedure to screen for anxiety and depression as well as impairments in psychosocial aspects, such as social support, social activity and quality of life (QoL) in women with epilepsy (WWE) after childbirth. Furthermore, the study intends to digitally screen for burden of the respective caregivers in WWE compared to a healthy control group.</p></div><div><h3>Materials and methods</h3><p>This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in the post-partum period on 30 WWE and 33 healthy controls who gave birth between 01/2018 and 05/2021. Additionally, 24 caregivers of WWE and 26 caregivers of healthy mothers took part in this study. Information on psychosocial health and psychosocial burden was collected digitally using the short version of the Social Support Questionnaire, the Social Activity Self-Report Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The caregiver burden was digitally assessed with the Zarit Burden Scale in its German adaptation (i.e., Zarit Burden Interview and the Family Burden Questionnaire). Furthermore, QoL was assessed with the QOLIE-31 (Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory) in WWE and with the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire in healthy controls.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>When comparing WWE and healthy controls, the groups were comparable on psychosocial aspects, such as self-reported social support, anxiety, depression and social activity, when assessed with self-report measures in a digital screening procedure.</p><p>Although not significantly different between groups, anxiety, depression, self-reported social support and social activity were correlated with overall QoL in both, WWE and healthy controls.</p><p>Caregivers of WWE and healthy controls were neither significantly different in their objective burden nor in their subjective burden as reported in digitally applied self-report measures.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Although not significantly different between groups, given the correlation between psychosocial aspects and QoL, it is worthwhile to include these aspects in standard clinical screening extending beyond the screening of anxiety and depression in WWE.</p><p>Overall, the preliminary psychosocial data presented in this study suggest that a digital assessment of psychosocial burden seems reasonable in WWE and warrants integration into further research and clinical practice.</p><p>Nevertheless, since no significant differences concerning psychosocial aspects were found in the present study, one may argue that highly specialized clinical care, as provided in the present study, may counteract potential psychosocial impairment experienced by WWE who do not receive such specialized care.</p><p>Hence, further investigations outside of specialized outpatient clinics as well as prospective investigations of subjective factors that may dynamically change during pregnancy ought to be addressed in clinical practice and research for improving care during and after pregnancy in WWE.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11847,"journal":{"name":"Epilepsy & Behavior","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Epilepsy & Behavior","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525505024003998","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective
The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a digital procedure to screen for anxiety and depression as well as impairments in psychosocial aspects, such as social support, social activity and quality of life (QoL) in women with epilepsy (WWE) after childbirth. Furthermore, the study intends to digitally screen for burden of the respective caregivers in WWE compared to a healthy control group.
Materials and methods
This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in the post-partum period on 30 WWE and 33 healthy controls who gave birth between 01/2018 and 05/2021. Additionally, 24 caregivers of WWE and 26 caregivers of healthy mothers took part in this study. Information on psychosocial health and psychosocial burden was collected digitally using the short version of the Social Support Questionnaire, the Social Activity Self-Report Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The caregiver burden was digitally assessed with the Zarit Burden Scale in its German adaptation (i.e., Zarit Burden Interview and the Family Burden Questionnaire). Furthermore, QoL was assessed with the QOLIE-31 (Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory) in WWE and with the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire in healthy controls.
Results
When comparing WWE and healthy controls, the groups were comparable on psychosocial aspects, such as self-reported social support, anxiety, depression and social activity, when assessed with self-report measures in a digital screening procedure.
Although not significantly different between groups, anxiety, depression, self-reported social support and social activity were correlated with overall QoL in both, WWE and healthy controls.
Caregivers of WWE and healthy controls were neither significantly different in their objective burden nor in their subjective burden as reported in digitally applied self-report measures.
Conclusion
Although not significantly different between groups, given the correlation between psychosocial aspects and QoL, it is worthwhile to include these aspects in standard clinical screening extending beyond the screening of anxiety and depression in WWE.
Overall, the preliminary psychosocial data presented in this study suggest that a digital assessment of psychosocial burden seems reasonable in WWE and warrants integration into further research and clinical practice.
Nevertheless, since no significant differences concerning psychosocial aspects were found in the present study, one may argue that highly specialized clinical care, as provided in the present study, may counteract potential psychosocial impairment experienced by WWE who do not receive such specialized care.
Hence, further investigations outside of specialized outpatient clinics as well as prospective investigations of subjective factors that may dynamically change during pregnancy ought to be addressed in clinical practice and research for improving care during and after pregnancy in WWE.
本研究旨在评估利用数字化程序筛查产后女性癫痫患者(WWE)的焦虑和抑郁以及社会支持、社交活动和生活质量(QoL)等社会心理方面损伤的可行性。此外,与健康对照组相比,该研究还打算对 WWE 中各护理人员的负担进行数字化筛查。材料和方法这项横断面比较研究在产后期间对 30 名 WWE 和 33 名健康对照组进行了调查,她们都是在 2018 年 1 月 1 日至 2021 年 5 月 5 日期间分娩的。此外,24 名 WWE 护理人员和 26 名健康母亲的护理人员也参与了这项研究。社会心理健康和社会心理负担方面的信息是通过使用社会支持问卷简版、社会活动自评量表和医院焦虑抑郁量表进行数字化收集的。护理人员的负担则通过Zarit负担量表的德语改编版(即Zarit负担访谈和家庭负担问卷)进行数字化评估。此外,还使用QOLIE-31(癫痫患者生活质量量表)对WWE进行了QoL评估,并使用生活满意度问卷对健康对照组进行了QoL评估。结果当比较WWE和健康对照组时,在社会心理方面,如自我报告的社会支持、焦虑、抑郁和社交活动,在数字筛查程序中使用自我报告的方法进行评估时,两组具有可比性。虽然各组之间没有明显差异,但在 WWE 和健康对照组中,焦虑、抑郁、自我报告的社会支持和社交活动都与总体 QoL 相关。WWE和健康对照组的护理人员在客观负担和主观负担方面均无明显差异,这一点在数字应用的自我报告测量中也有体现。结论尽管组间无明显差异,但鉴于社会心理方面与 QoL 之间的相关性,值得将这些方面纳入标准临床筛查,而不仅仅是筛查 WWE 的焦虑和抑郁。总之,本研究中提供的初步社会心理数据表明,对 WWE 的社会心理负担进行数字化评估似乎是合理的,值得将其纳入进一步的研究和临床实践中。不过,由于本研究中未发现社会心理方面的显著差异,因此可以认为,本研究中提供的高度专业化的临床护理可能会抵消未接受此类专业护理的 WWE 可能出现的社会心理损伤。因此,在临床实践和研究中,应进一步调查专科门诊以外的情况,并对妊娠期间可能发生动态变化的主观因素进行前瞻性调查,以改善 WWE 在妊娠期间和妊娠后的护理。
期刊介绍:
Epilepsy & Behavior is the fastest-growing international journal uniquely devoted to the rapid dissemination of the most current information available on the behavioral aspects of seizures and epilepsy.
Epilepsy & Behavior presents original peer-reviewed articles based on laboratory and clinical research. Topics are drawn from a variety of fields, including clinical neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, and neuroimaging.
From September 2012 Epilepsy & Behavior stopped accepting Case Reports for publication in the journal. From this date authors who submit to Epilepsy & Behavior will be offered a transfer or asked to resubmit their Case Reports to its new sister journal, Epilepsy & Behavior Case Reports.