Employment outcomes following resective epilepsy surgery.
Publication/Presentation Date
12-1-2007
Abstract
PURPOSE: Analyze determinates of employment changes from before to 2 years after surgery in refractory focal epilepsy patients.
METHODS: Preoperative employment was prospectively assessed in 375 adults with refractory epilepsy. Two-year postsurgical employment status was obtained for 299; factors potentially associated with employment status change among subgroups unemployed and employed at baseline were analyzed.
RESULTS: Presurgical employment status was full-time (n = 148, 39.5%), part-time (n = 26, 6.9%), disabled and unemployed (n = 100, 26.7%), unemployed (n = 44, 11.7%), and other (n = 57, 15.2%). Those with and without 2-year follow-up did not differ on baseline characteristics (all p > 0.10). Two years after surgery, 42.8% were employed full-time and 12.4%, part-time. Among those unemployed before surgery, better seizure outcome was associated with gaining employment at 2 years (p = 0.03).
CONCLUSIONS: Net employment gains were modest 2 years after surgery and higher with better seizure outcomes, reinforcing the need for optimizing surgical candidate selection, long-term follow-up studies, and postsurgical vocational rehabilitation.
Volume
48
Issue
12
First Page
2253
Last Page
2257
ISSN
0013-9580
Published In/Presented At
Chin, P. S., Berg, A. T., Spencer, S. S., Sperling, M. R., Haut, S. R., Langfitt, J. T., Bazil, C. W., Walczak, T. S., Pacia, S. V., & Vickrey, B. G. (2007). Employment outcomes following resective epilepsy surgery. Epilepsia, 48(12), 2253–2257. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.01208.x
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
17645537
Department(s)
Department of Medicine
Document Type
Article