- Aim: develop and validate a comprehensive, time-efficient screening tool for psychosocial risk factors in people with epilepsy covering all ICF components.
- Three-phase mixed-methods design from 2025 to 2027: interviews, guideline review, expert board, iterative cognitive interviews, and psychometric testing via online cross-sectional survey.
- Ethics approval obtained; results to be disseminated at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals; trial registered DRKS00036047.
BMJ Open. 2026 Sep 23;16(9):e122346. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2026-122346.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological chronic diseases worldwide. While medications can control seizures, about one-third of people with epilepsy have drug-resistant epilepsy and continue to experience seizures. Psychosocial burdens are a major concern, as they are linked to seizure worsening and vice versa. Early identification of risk factors for psychosocial burdens could help prevent such deterioration. However, a comprehensive and time-efficient screening tool to detect these risks is lacking. Therefore, this study aims to develop such a screening tool and to test its psychometric properties.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The three-phase, mixed-methods study runs from January 2025 to December 2027 at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in cooperation with the Epilepsy Center Hamburg. Phase 1 includes identification of psychosocial risk factors and existing measures by (1) conducting semi-structured interviews with people with epilepsy about illness-related influence regarding International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) components (eg, body function and structure, activity and participation, environmental factors) and (2) reviewing national and international epilepsy guidelines for suitable screening tools. Findings will (3) be discussed with an expert advisory board of healthcare professionals and patients. In phase 2, we will (4) develop the screening tool based on identified measures and newly developed items covering all ICF components. The preliminary item pool will be discussed and rated by the expert advisory board. To ensure comprehensibility, (5) the new tool will be tested in at least two rounds of cognitive interviews with people with epilepsy and adjusted accordingly. Phase 3 will include psychometric testing of the new screening tool (eg, item characteristics, construct validity, internal validity) via a cross-sectional online survey.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has been approved by the Psychological Ethics Committee of the Center for Psychosocial Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany (LPEK-0888, LPEK-1091). Study results will be presented at conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: DRKS00036047).
PMID:42778245 | DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2026-122346
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