Past research projects

Sleep disturbances in adults with epilepsy: A questionnaire-based study investigating prevalence and correlations with memory, mood, and quality of life

Thanks to everybody who took part in Clare Huyton's research. The research aims to see if there are associations between sleep problems in people with epilepsy and things like poor memory, poor mood, or a impaired ‘quality of life’.  

Ideal World for women survey

Many thanks to everyone who took part in our Ideal World for women survery. The results of this will form part of Epilepsy Action’s work to highlight the treatment needs of women with epilepsy  

The needs of people with epilepsy in Northern Ireland

Thanks to everybody who took part in our survey on epilepsy services in Northern Ireland.  

Epilepsy and employment survey

Many thanks to everybody who responded to our epilepsy and employment survey. The results of the survey will form part of what we do during National Epilepsy Week (20-26 May 2007), the focus of which is employment.  

House of Lords Inquiry epilepsy services survey

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Epilepsy is holding an inquiry in to the current state of epilepsy services in England. This is an opportunity to help raise the profile of epilepsy services and, we hope, influence their improvement for the benefit of all people with epilepsy.

Many thanks to everybody who took part in our survey. We will present the results of it to the enquiry.  

Mothers with epilepsy – caring for your baby

Many thanks to everybody who took part in this research. We will report on the findings of the study when they are released.  

A study of executive functioning in people with epilepsy

This study has now finished. Thank you to everyone who took part.  

Health locus of control and quality of life: sex differences in participants with epilepsy

The closing date for this research has now passed. Thank you to everyone who took part. Findings from the project will be on the website as soon as these are available. 

Parenting Children with Epilepsy

Epileptic Seizure Prediction by Untrained Dogs

Dog-owning readers of Epilepsy Today and the Epilepsy Action website were invited to complete a questionnaire reporting whether their untrained pets were able to predict the onset of seizures.  A total of 53 replies were received from people whose pet dogs were able to anticipate seizures; a greater number than in any previous investigation of this kind. A further 20 people took the trouble to report that their dog was unable to do so. 

The most common seizure types of the 53 owners were tonic-clonic (42%), complex-partial (26%) and simple partial (13%).  The remaining 19% comprised absence, myoclonic or unknown. 

A range of warning signals was given, such as restlessness, licking, barking, jumping up and sitting at the owner’s feet.  One third of the owners reported that their dog gave less than 5 minutes notice before the onset of a seizure, with a further third giving between 5 and 15 minutes notice. A small proportion of the dogs (12%) displayed warning behaviour 30 minutes or more before the onset of a seizure.

There was no evidence to suggest that the ability to predict seizures was specific to breed, age or gender of the animal.  However it was interesting to note that half of the respondents’ dogs were either working or terrier breeds.  Three quarters of the respondents reported that their dogs had begun exhibiting predicting behaviour during the first year of ownership, with one third of the dogs anticipating seizures almost immediately.

Background research and the results from the questionnaire confirmed that the disposition of the dog was of primary importance, not only in terms of its capacity to alert, but also its ability to cope when confronted with a seizure.  As a general rule, the dog should be people-orientated, friendly, social and focussed.  They should not be overly protective of their owner, shy or nervous.  The results showed that 90% of the dogs chose to stay with their owner during their seizure while only 10% chose to leave.  However the dogs were not necessarily comfortable with the situation as the most common form of warning was reported as restless/anxious behaviour.  This may be the manifestation of a fearful disposition prior to an imminent situation that they feel unable to cope with.

In conclusion, this study undoubtedly confirms that some untrained dogs are able to anticipate seizures.  Dogs have varying degrees of both alerting ability and the capacity to cope.  Although the benefits of owning a dog able to predict seizures are immense, careful consideration should be given before, and when, choosing a pet dog. 

I would like to sincerely acknowledge and thank all those who took the time to participate in this research and to Epilepsy Action for supporting it.

Jennifer Simpson  

Familial Epilepsy Study

Dr Neeti Hindocha, Clinical Research Fellow at King’s College Hospital, recently conducted a study looking at the possibility of identifying some of the genes that cause epilepsy.

Thanks to everyone who took part. A summary of the findings will be available soon.  

Update to 'Is perceived stigma related to quality of life in individuals with epilepsy?'

Kelly Panter, a Postgraduate psychology student at the University of Bristol, has recently completed a project entitled ‘Is perceived stigma related to quality of life in individuals with epilepsy?'

Epilepsy Action posted information about her project on this website and invited people with epilepsy to contact Kelly if they would like to participate in the research by completing a questionnaire. Kelly was extremely pleased with the response she received, and she would like to thank everyone who helped with this important research.

• Download results   

A grounded approach to the study of the experience of epilepsy in adults

Stephanie Hart, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, at the University of Teesside, conducted in-depth research exploring the meaning of being diagnosed with epilepsy in adulthood and experience of living with the condition.

Recruitment for the research has now ended, but thank you to everybody who took part.  

Spiritual and religious treatment options: the views of people suffering from chronic illness and how this relates to religion, spirituality and coping style

Hannah Dale, an MSc student at Nottingham University, was looking for adult volunteers to take part in her research project in Health Psychology.

Many thanks to everybody who took part. Recruitment for this study has now ended.