Patient awareness of seizures as documented in the epilepsy monitoring unit.

Treatment for epilepsy depends largely on seizure frequency reported by patients through their seizure diaries. However, patients may be unaware of some of their seizures, which may lead to incomplete diary data, impacting on appropriate treatment plans. The purpose of this study was to quantify awareness of seizures in patients admitted to an epilepsy monitoring unit through post event assessments by registered nurses. Results indicated that only 44.5% of complex partial and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures were recognized by patients with epilepsy. Incomplete data in seizure diaries are likely a widespread problem, which may have an important impact on treatment and, thereby, on the safety and quality of life of individuals with epilepsy.