A Double-blind Study to Compare the Efficacy and Safety of Zonisamide and Carbamazepine as Monotherapy, in Newly Diagnosed Partial Epilepsy

A subject achieved a 12-month seizure-free period if they were free of all seizures, regardless of seizure type, for 12 months while receiving the same dose. The occurrence of seizures was documented in the seizure diary, which was maintained by the subject and reviewed at each following visit.

An AE is defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a subject and does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the medicinal product. Adverse events were identified by: any unfavorable or unintended sign, symptom or disease temporarily associated with the use of a medicinal product; any new disease or exacerbation of an existing disease; any deterioration in nonprotocol-required measurements of laboratory values or other clinical test; and recurrence of an intermittent medical condition not present at Baseline.

Lack of efficacy was evaluated by the subject and on the basis of whether zonisamide and carbamazepine gave the subject at least a 26-week seizure free rate. The subject could withdraw at any time due to lack of efficacy.

A subject achieved a 6-months seizure-free period if they were free of all seizures, regardless of seizure type, for 6-months while receiving the same dose. The occurrence of seizures was documented in the seizure diary, which was maintained by the subject and reviewed at each following visit.

A subject achieved a 12-month seizure-free period if they were free of all seizures, regardless of seizure type, for 12-months while receiving the same dose. The occurrence of seizures was documented in the seizure diary, which was maintained by the subject and reviewed at each following visit.

The Aldenkamp-Baker Neuropsychological Assessment Scale(ABNAS) is a subject based questionnaire to measure subjective perceived drug-related cognitive impairments. The ABNAS measured seven critical domains of cognition(tiredness/fatigue,hyperexcitability, slowing(mental and motor),memory impairment,attention disorders,impairment of motor coordination, and language disorders). The total score ranged from 0 to 72, with a higher score reflecting a high level of problems.

The Bond-Lader Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is made up of 16 pairs of alternative descriptors of mood and attention at either end of a 10 cm line.

Subjects were asked to rate their feelings at the time of assessment by indicating the point on the line which best represent their mood. Each item was scored by measuring the position relative to the left hand end of the line and levels of anxiety, sedation, and dysphoria were then calculated from the combined scores of selected items. The scores ranged from 0 to 100, with a high score reflecting a high level of anxiety, sedation or dysphoria.

The Quality of Life in Epilepsy - Problems(QOLIE-31-P) was completed by the patient and contained 30 items covering seven subscales(seizure worry, overall

Quality of Life (QOL),emotional well-being,energy-fatigue, cognition,medication effects and social function) and one item covering health status. It also included seven items addressing overall distress related to each subscale, an item addressing the relative importance of each subscale topic, and an item addressing perception of overall change in QOL at the end of the study. A high score reflects a good QOL. The following scale range is a sample of 1 of the 7 of the subscales:

10 (Best possible quality of life) - 0 (Worst possible quality of life);

Rand Corporation QOLIE-31 Scoring Manual was used. The QOLIE-31 overall score is calculated by summing the product of each scale score times its weight and summing overall all scales.

The Short Form 36 Health and Well-Being Questionnaire (SF-36) is a 36-item generic health related QOL instrument covering the following domains: physical functioning, role-physical,bodily pain, general health, social functioning,role-emotional, mental health, and vitality. It yields a profile of eight scores, one for each domain, and physical and mental health summary measures. Each domain is described by a score ranging from 0 to 100, for a range of total possible scoes of 0-400 for physical and 0-400 for mental. An increase represents an improvement, whereas a decrease reflects a worsening.

The European Quality of Life Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire (EQ-5D) is a preference based generic health related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument which classifies health states across five domains: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Each domain has three levels, they are (1) no problems, (2) some problems, (3) extreme problems. The percentages shown are calculated from the number of subjects at that visit with non-missing data for that score.