Quality of life indicators in patients with trigeminal neuralgia in a specialized institution

Guisety López-Cantera, Coordinación de Investigación en Enfermería, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Sara Santiago-García, Servicio de Terapia Intensiva Neurológica, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Eder U. Ibarra-Del Valle, Servicio de Neurocirugía, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Alexa H. Torres-Corrales, Servicio de Terapia Intensiva Neurológica, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México

Introduction: Trigeminal neuralgia is one of the most painful neurological processes. It has an incidence of 4-15/100,000 inhabitants and a prevalence of 0.04%. There are various ways to assess and describe the level of quality of life in each person, this depends on various aspects. It is essential to use indicators that allow for a more precise understanding and evaluation of quality of life, standardizing as indicators the domains of the measurement instrument used, and obtaining uniform results. Objective: To evaluate the quality of life indicators of trigeminal neuralgia patients in a specialized institution. Method: Developing a quantitative, descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional methodological approach, with a non-probabilistic sample, at convenience. Results: Regarding the quality of life of individuals, 81.8% have a regular quality of life and only 18.8% have a good quality of life; no person has a very good or very bad quality of life. Conclusions: Trigeminal neuralgia is a pathology that directly affects the quality of life of people who suffer from it, since, despite receiving specific treatment, the pain can be triggered again. The role of nursing staff is essential for the management of this type of patient.

Keywords: Quality of life. Trigeminal neuralgia. Trigeminal nerve.