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CC BY 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83(02): s00451804919
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804919
Original Article

Aerobic physical exercise improves quality of life in temporal lobe epilepsy

Shai Oisiovici Laks 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Nathalia Volpato 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Nikolas Coelho 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Mateus Henrique Nogueira 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Pamela Regina Henning 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Aline de Fatima Dias 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
William Souza Martins Ferreira 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Clarissa Lin Yasuda 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Luciana Ramalho Pimentel-Silva 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
,
Fernando Cendes 
1   Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Campinas SP, Brazil.
› Author Affiliations
Financial Support The authors declare that they have receive financial support from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP; grants 2013/07559-3 and 2021/11820-5) to conduct the present study.
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Abstract

Background A prior study showed that people with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with an active lifestyle present a better quality of life (QoL), but the influence of aerobic physical exercise (APE) in the QoL of these patients is still unclear. As pharmacoresistance is commonly associated with TLE, the possibility of seizures during the activities might prevent patients from benefiting from APE.

Objective To analyze the influence of APE in the QoL of TLE patients and also focus on the seizure worry subitem of the QoL in epilepsy 31 (QoLIE-31) questionnaire.

Methods We analyzed data from 25 individuals with TLE who participated in a 6-month APE program under the supervision of a board-certified physical trainer. TLE patients were divided into training (TLE-training) and control (TLE-control) groups. The TLE-training group underwent an APE program of 6 months, while the control group was oriented to keep their routine. We assessed all patients with the QoLIE-31 at baseline and after 6 months. We used a mixed-between-subjects ANOVA to assess the APE intervention compared with TLE-control pre- and postintervention on the QoL.

Results We found a significant interaction between intervention groups and APE-time (p = 0.0005), showing that only patients in the TLE-training group presented higher QoL after the intervention (p = 0.001). We found no significant differences between groups for seizure worry (p = 0.50).

Conclusion There was improvement in QoL due to APE, with no increase in seizure worry, which might be a feature of concern for both patients and healthcare practitioners. Further studies should focus on long-term interventions to evaluate the impact of APE in QoL.

Keywords

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - Quality of Life - Exercise - Seizure

Authors' Contributions

SOL: data curation; formal analysis; funding acquisition; investigation; methodology; validation; visualization; writing – original draft; and writing – review & editing; NV, NC, and MHN: data curation; formal analysis; validation; visualization; writing – review & editing; CLY: conceptualization; data curation; investigation; methodology; project administration; supervision; validation; visualization; writing - original draft; and writing – review & editing; LRPS: conceptualization; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; project administration; supervision; validation; visualization; writing - original draft, review & editing; and FC: conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; funding acquisition; investigation; methodology; project administration; supervision; validation; visualization; writing - original draft, review & editing.


Editor-in-Chief: Hélio A. G. Teive.


Associate Editor: Lécio Figueira Pinto.




Publication History

Received: 16 May 2024

Accepted: 01 December 2024

Article published online:
19 March 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Shai Oisiovici Laks, Nathalia Volpato, Nikolas Coelho, Mateus Henrique Nogueira, Pamela Regina Henning, Aline de Fatima Dias, William Souza Martins Ferreira, Clarissa Lin Yasuda, Luciana Ramalho Pimentel-Silva, Fernando Cendes. Aerobic physical exercise improves quality of life in temporal lobe epilepsy. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83: s00451804919.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804919