Correlation of Montreal Cognitive Assessment with Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31 in adult persons with epilepsy

The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of cognitive function, as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), on quality of life using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31) in adult persons with epilepsy (PWE). Seventy-four PWE aged between 18 and 50 participated. Our data suggest that the total QOLIE-31 score was not significantly lower in the cognitively impaired group of PWE. Correlation analysis showed a weak yet significant association between the MoCA subscale delayed recall and the QOLIE-31 subscale seizure worry. Additionally, the MoCA subscales attention, orientation, and the total MoCA score were significantly correlated with the QOLIE-31 subscale medication effects. Moreover, MoCA subscale orientation was significantly linked to both medication effect and the overall QOLIE-31 score. Attention and the total MoCA score were weakly associated with social functioning on the QOLIE-31. In hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis, after adjusting for confounders such as gender and education, we observed MoCA subdomain visuospatial & executive function (β = 0.459, <i>p</i> = <0.001) and attention (β = 0.543, <i>p</i> < 0.001) explained 13% variance in Total QOLIE-31. Furthermore, a significant association was found between the attention of MoCA and with overall quality of life (β = 0.349, <i>p</i> = 0.046) as well as education and emotional well-being (β = 0.487, <i>p</i> = 0.003) of QOLIE-31. We conclude that visuospatial and executive function, attention, and education are predictors of quality of life in adult PWE. Our findings reinforce the importance of screening for and addressing cognitive deficits to enhance the quality of life in epilepsy patients.