Citation

Bower CM, Hays RD, Devinsky O, Spencer SS, Sperling MR, Haut S, Vassar S, Vickrey BG. Seizure 2009; 18(3): 228-231.

Affiliation

Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. cbower@mednet.ucla.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.seizure.2008.09.001

PMID

18926728

PMCID

PMC2677411

Abstract

Although the clinical goal of resective epilepsy surgery is seizure freedom, patients have a wide set of expectations for this invasive procedure. The goal of this study was to evaluate potential gender differences in expectations among patients undergoing resective epilepsy surgery. Ratings of the importance of 12 potential impacts ("expectations") of resective surgery were analyzed in a seven-center cohort study including 389 adults aged 16 and older who underwent resective epilepsy surgery. Men and women both ranked anticipated changes in driving and memory as the most important presurgical expectations. Women rated driving, physical activity limitations, and economic worries as less important, and fatigue and pregnancy concerns as more important than did men (p's< or =0.05). Exploratory factor analysis indicated a different pattern of associations among the 12 importance items for men and women. Whether gender differences in presurgical values are associated with outcomes needs exploration.

Language: en