Abstracts

Rationale: Epilepsy comorbid mood and anxiety disorders frequently occur in epilepsy population, among which depression and anxiety are the focus. However, according to studies using Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), bipolar symptoms are much more common in epilepsy patients than both healthy control and other chronic diseases. This observational study aims to find out whether bipolar symptoms are associated with epilepsy variables and poor outcomes in epilepsy patients.  Methods: Patients diagnosed as epilepsy were interviewed face to face by epileptologists. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Quality of life in epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) and questionnaires assessing bipolar symptoms: MDQ and hypomanic checklist-32 (HCL-32), were completed by patients themselves. After the interview, patients were evaluated by trained psychologists using Hamilton rating scale of depression (HRSD), Hamilton Rating Scale of anxiety (HAMA). Data was analyzed using SPSS 19.0 version. Irritability factor of MDQ/HCL-32 were extracted to be analyzed.  Results: Among 86 patients interviewed, 18 were MDQ positive (total score of MDQ>=7) and 24 were HCL-32 positive (total score of HCL-32>=14). Correlation between MDQ/HCL-32 and epilepsy variables were shown in the table. There is no statistically significant correlation between MDQ/HCL-32 and quality of life. But when considering factors of MDQ/HCL-32, both irritability factor of MDQ/HCL-32 are correlated with quality of life in epilepsy patients. At the same time, both total scores of MDQ/HCL-32 and scores of irritability are not correlated with HRSD and HAMA. Conclusions: Among bipolar symptoms, irritability is related to lots of epilepsy variables and impact on quality of life in epilepsy patients. Irritability deserves our attention when evaluating mood conditions and needs further studies to confirm its role in epilepsy population and decide whether it needs treatment. Funding: None