2.2 Questionnaires
These epilepsy specific questionnaires were used to evaluate safety of
AEDs, adherence to AEDs, satisfaction with information about AEDs and
QoL in pediatric patients with epilepsy, they were answered by the
parent/caregiver twice at baseline and at follow-up, and it took from
15-20 minutes to answer these questionnaires:
1- Pediatric Epilepsy Side Effects Questionnaire (PESQ), which is a
19-item measure consisting of five subscales (cognitive, motor,
behavioural, general neurological and weight) side effects, five-point
Likert scale from one (Not Present) to five (High Severity) was used,
finally, a score from 0-100 was calculated and a higher score indicates
higher number and severity of side effects (17).
2- The 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8), it consists
of eight questions with a score of zero or one, higher score means
increased adherence (18), the validated Arabic version was used (19).
3- The Satisfaction with Information about Medicines Scale (SIMS), a
17-questions used to indicate whether the patients have received enough
information about their prescribed medicines, it identifies patients’
satisfaction with information about the action and usage of medication,
and the potential problems of medication, a score of one or zero is
given to each question, higher score indicate higher degree of
satisfaction (20).
4- Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (Peds QL) epilepsy module, it is
used to assess quality of life in pediatric patients with epilepsy, and
consists of five dimensions (Impact, Cognitive Functioning, Sleep/Rest,
Executive Functioning, and Mood/Behavior). Five-point Likert scale from
zero (Never) to four (Almost always) is used and a score out of 100 is
given and higher score indicates lower problems. Use was authorized by
Mapi Research Trust (21).