Rationale:
To date, epidemiological data on the prevalence of confirmed or suspected COVID-19, the seizure control conditions, the mental health problems and psychiatric morbidity of PWE during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been available; therefore, how best to respond to challenges for epilepsy patients during the outbreak is unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate COVID-19 perceptions, behaviors and seizure control in patients with epilepsy (PWE) during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Method:
This retrospective, multi-center study was conducted in 1719 PWE from 26 hospitals who were at least primary school graduates. Participants were investigated by a modified COVID-19 Psychosocial Research Consortium Survey during Feb 2020 to Apr 2020. Subjects included were divided into two groups for comparison of the impact of COVID-19 on seizure control: (1) “PWE with seizure increase”, (2) “PWE without seizure increase” based on the seizure frequency during COVID-19 outbreak. Chi-square test and t-test were used to test differences on significant characteristics. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to calculate odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) to compare PWE with seizure increase with PWE without seizure increase for various levels of perceptions, behaviors and mental health. Results1237 adult PWE were enrolled for further analysis. There was no significant difference between PWE with/without seizure increase in demographic characteristics including gender, age, education, living state and COVID-19 exposure history. Logistic analyses showed that PWE with seizure increase were more likely to feel nervous about the epidemic and have poor quality of life during COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, non-seizure free before COVID-19 outbreak, drug reduction/withdrawal, moderate anxiety during the epidemic were presented as risk factors for seizure increase.
Conclusion:
The study shed light on how COVID-19 outbreak affect seizure control regarding behavioral and psychological responses to the epidemic. PWE with nervous tension, poor quality of life, moderate anxiety, and drug reduction/withdrawal during COVID-19 outbreak, as well as non-seizure free before COVID-19 outbreak were more susceptible to seizure increase. Understanding these correlations is critical in PWE management during the epidemic.
Funding:
:National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC:81671300), Research Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2016YFC0904400), Natural Science Foundation of Hunan province (2020JJ5914), Xiangya Hospital Clinical Project (No. 2016L08).
FIGURES
Figure 1