Noncompliance and its Determinants among Patients with Epilepsy in Neurology Outpatient Department, Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. For almost all patients with epilepsy, long-term drug therapy is the only practical way of form of treatments and many factors that affect adherence to pharmacological treatment can lead to lack of control over seizure and recurrence. What we know about the depths of noncompliance and its relation with seizure control in vulnerable populations such as economically backward is very less. The present study was a quantitative study intended to assess the noncompliance and its determinants among patients with epilepsy attending Neurology Outpatient Department, Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. The objective of the study is to assess the noncompliance, among patients with epilepsy and to identify the determinants of noncompliance related to therapy of epilepsy. Descriptive research design was used in this study. The sample consists of 280. Samples were selected consecutively and data were collected by interview method. The data were collected over a period of six weeks. The collected data was analysed by using SPSS version 17 and results were expressed in descriptive and inferential statistics. The following are the major findings of the study, 65.7 % of the participants had medium compliance to drug, 25.4 % had low compliance and 8.9 % had high compliance to drug. After logistic regression, it was found that patient with below poverty line, no family history of epilepsy and patient with generalised seizure were more risky to be noncompliance with antiepileptic therapy.