A five-point scale for assessing the quality of life of patients with epilepsy

The main goal of epilepsy therapy is to improve the patient’s quality of life (QoL), which is a holistic indicator that reflects satisfaction with life in various areas. Currently existing questionnaires: QOLIE-89, QOLIE-31 and QOLIE-10 are adapted for use in Russia, but require a certain, sometimes considerable amount of time to complete them and then process. The five-point scale for assessing the QoL of epilepsy patients (SCALE 5) requires answering only one question: “Grade your general well-being on a five-point school scale at this moment?” and allows to get the necessary information in seconds, without using special forms and calculation formulas. The QoL is assessed by analogy with a Russian five-point school grading system, where 5 is an excellent grade, 4 is good etc. The resulting score serves as an immediate guideline for the doctor for further treatment of the patient: with a score of 3 (satisfactory), the cause of the reduced QoL should be identified and corrected (whether it is related to the illness, adverse events, anxiety/depression, etc.), and with scores of 2 and 1, immediate intervention is required: correction of therapy, consultation with a psychiatrist, possibly hospitalization. Here we present the results of more than 25 years of using SCALE 5. SCALE 5 is easy for patients to understand and for clinicians to use in the limited time of an outpatient appointment. The typical clinical scenarios and practical recommendations for determining the SCALE 5 score presented in the article are intended to facilitate the work of specialists in the fields of neurology, epileptology and psychiatry.