Prediction of Quality of Life after Surgery for Frontal Lobe Epilepsy by Neuropsychological Assessments

Frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) is associated with cognitive dysfunction that may adversely affect the quality of life (QoL) before and after surgery for epilepsy. This study aimed to find cognitive factors that may predict QoL in patients with FLE whose seizures had been controlled by surgery for epilepsy.

Methods and Materials: 

Twenty-four patients with FLE who underwent epilepsy surgery from June 2014 to June 2019 were recruited. The seizure outcome was assessed with modified Engel classification. All of the patients were assessed by Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, Wechsler Memory Scale, Color Trails Test, Tower of London Test, Persian Aphasia Naming Test, and Persian Diagnostic Aphasia Battery. The QoL was evaluated with the QoL in Epilepsy Inventory with 89 items. Repeated measures analysis of variance and Generalized Linear Models (GLM) was used for statistical analysis.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between the scores of working memory (p = 0.01), general intelligence (p <0.001), and functional intelligence (p <0.001) before and after surgery. GLM regression model showed that color errors in part 2 of CTT by -18.43 and higher indexed scores of verbal memory by -1.28, both before surgery, predicted decreased total QOLIE score.

Working memory and executive functioning were neuropsychological factors that may predict QoL in after surgery for FLE.