Self-management programs need to be tailored to individual patient needs.

The article discusses ways to improve lifestyle and information management in PWE.

PWE do worse on the lifestyle and information management subscales.

PWE do better on the medication, seizure, and safety management subscales.

PWE perform differently across the various domains of the ESMS.

Abstract

Purpose To determine whether the self-management skills of persons with epilepsy (PWE) vary across the different domains of the Epilepsy Self-Management Scale (ESMS).

Methods 172 PWE completed a survey questionnaire as well as the ESMS.

Results Using ANOVA with pairwise comparison, the mean item scores of the medication, seizure, and safety management subscales of the ESMS were significantly higher than the lifestyle and information management subscales (p < 0.01). The mean item score for the lifestyle management subscale was significantly higher than the information management subscale (p < 0.01).