[The factors triggering epileptic crises according to patients].
The authors were interested in knowing what epileptic patients think about seizure-inducing factors; whether they are convinced that their seizures are induced by any trigger factor and, if so, which factor it is. While mainly interested in the psychological reality of patients, data about objective factors could emerge from this study. An inquiry was made among the 1005 patients who attended the outpatient clinic for epilepsy of Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon, during five months of 1994. Of the 308 that answered the inquiry, 147 could not recognise any inducing factor for their last seizure, while 144 mentioned such a factor (of the latter, some mentioned two or more factors acting together). Emotional factors were most often mentioned. Seventeen answers were discarded. In many instances, seizure-inducing factors are identified by the patients but difficult to objectivize by investigators, namely those of emotional type. Answers given by the patients might help doctors to provide patients with better care.