Developing a model of quality of life in epilepsy: the contribution of neuropsychology.

Three specific issues must be considered in the development of a quality-of-life in epilepsy model and psychometric instrument. These issues are: (a) whether to adopt a narrow versus broad model of quality of life, (b) whether to rely on patient self-reports of quality of life or reports garnered from proxies, and (c) whether to develop a generic versus disease-specific measure of quality of life. In reviewing these issues the contributions of the health services research field, research pertaining to the psychological and social effects of epilepsy, and especially neuropsychology, are pertinent.