Unveiling SERIAS: A Game Changer in Epilepsy
Epilepsy affects 270,000 Australians. It is the commonest chronic neurological condition worldwide and can occur at any age. It is treatable. However, many epilepsy treatments cause substantial side effects.
Scenario*:
Tina has epilepsy, and experiences focal seizures (blank staring spells) several times a month. Her antiseizure medication causes some dizziness, but stops her from having full body convulsions (‘grand mal’ seizures). Her neurologist prescribes her a new antiseizure medication. She is now seizure free, but has to reduce her work hours due to medication-related tiredness.
Is Tina better off with the new medication? (*Scenario is fictional but is based on true clinical encounters.)
There is a clear need to measure the trade-off between seizures vs treatment-related side effects, and the effects of these on overall wellbeing.
Researchers at Monash University and New York University have created and validated the Seizure Related Impact Assessment Scale (SERIAS) in a study at The Alfred Hospital to address this important need.
SERIAS is a 6-part questionnaire that asks patients to rank the impact of their seizures and epilepsy treatment on work, school, and family/social activities in the past 30 days. SERIAS converts both seizure and treatment impact into ‘time lost’, so it is possible to directly compare these outcomes.
In the study, SERIAS scores closely reflect how study participants rated their quality of life, mood (depression or anxiety), and medication side effects.
It takes about 5 minutes to complete the SERIAS, and researchers suggest it is completed prior to each clinic visit so clinicians can track how well a patient is going across treatment changes and over time.
Chris Ewart, a SERIAS lived experience researcher was connected to the study via the School of Translational Medicine Community and Researcher Engagement program. Chris reflects on the progress and outcomes of the research project:
“I’ve been living with epilepsy for many years, taking multiple medications and living with their side-effects. By considering both seizures and side-effects, SERIAS will enable more focussed clinician-patient discussions and the ability to concentrate on the area of most concern, leading to much better outcomes for people like me. Providing input as part of the SERIAS team was a great experience for me, and it gave me the chance to make a positive contribution from my epilepsy.”
SERIAS will be provided free of charge from the US Epilepsy Consortium to suitably qualified clinicians for use in clinics and for investigator-initiated grants. It is already being used in epilepsy clinical trials. Dr Emma Foster, the lead investigator, remarks:
“SERIAS is a simple but very powerful tool. For the first time, we have a reliable and consistent way to identify which is causing a patient the most issues – seizures or treatment side effects? And this can help shape management plans”.
Read the published study here: https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213900
Article Source: https://www.monash.edu/medicine/news/latest/2025-articles/unveiling-serias-a-game-changer-in-epilepsy