Prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in epilepsy

Abstract

Introduction

Epilepsy is a chronic disease defined as a brain disorder, characterized by a predisposition to present seizures, generating cognitive, psychological, and social consequences.

Objective

To determine the prevalence of psychiatric comorbid disorders in patients with epilepsy (PWEs) and its associated factors.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 30 PWEs who were treated in the neurology department of Habib Bourguiba Hospital in Sfax, Tunisia. We used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for the diagnosis of Axis I psychiatric disorders.

Results

The half of patients had psychiatric comorbidities: 4 had major depressive disorder (MDD), 2 had MDD with generalized anxiety disorder, 4 had MDD with social phobia, 1 had bipolar disorder type I, 1 had panic disorder, 1 had agoraphobia and 2 had generalized anxiety disorder.

Twenty-five PWEs had seizure-onset below 30 years old and among them, 40% had psychiatric comorbidities. Among patients who had seizure-onset above 30 years old, none had psychiatric comorbidities. Psychiatric comorbidities were found in 71.5% of patients with seizure frequency >2 per year. Psychiatric comorbidities were more common in patients with generalized seizures compared to whom with partial seizures (53% versus 45%). It was also more common in patients treated with polytherapy compared to whom with monotherapy (64% versus 37.5%).

Conclusion

The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities is relatively high among PWEs. The most frequent diagnoses found were mood and anxiety disorders. It is very important to identify them and treat them to enhance seizure control.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.