The Relationship of Depression and the Intractibilty of Seizure Disorders.
Abstract number :
2.148
Submission category :
Year :
2001
Submission ID :
2017
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2001, 06:00 AM
Authors :
H.P. Attarian, MD, Neurology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO; T.J. Vahle, MPH, Neurology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO; J.D. Carter, RN, Neurology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO; E. Hykes, BSN, RN, Neurology, Washington Universi
RATIONALE: It is a well established fact that patients with epilepsy have a higher prevalence of depressive disorders than the general population (1)(2).
We wanted to determine if patients with intractable epilepsy had a higher prevalence of depression compared with patients whose epilepsy was under control. We also wanted to explore the possibility of finding a correlation between severity of depression and the number of seizures per month.
METHODS: We gave 143 consecutive patients with clinically documented epilepsy, who presented to our epilepsy clinic over a period of 3 months, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). A score of 16 or higher was considered significant for depression (3). Their individual charts were reviewed to determine intractibilty. Patients who were seizure free for over 6 months were considered not intractable. We counted the number of seizures the other patients had had, over the period of the last six months, and divided them by six arriving at a seizure per month count which we used as a determinant of the frequency of their seizures. We used the Chi square test the Pearson correlation value (R) and the p value as statistical tools for analysis.
RESULTS: Out of the 143 patients, 52 were neither intractable nor depressed. Sixty one had intractable epilepsy and were not depressed, 14 had intractable epilepsy and were depressed and 16 did not have intractable epilepsy and were depressed. The Chi square test at a confidence interval of 95% revealed and X value of 0.26; showing no difference in the prevalence of depression between a group of patients who had intractable epilepsy and a group of patients whose epilepsy was under control.
The Pearson correlation value (R) for a relationship between the number of seizures per month and severity of depression was 0.12 and the p value for the same variables was 0.16: both showing no significant relationship.
CONCLUSIONS: 1) Patients with epilepsy have a high prevalence of depression, but the intractibility of the seizure disorder does not seem to be an independant risk factor for the occurrence of depression.
2) There is no relationship between the severity of depression and the number of seizures per month.
References:
1 Mendez MF, Cummings JL, Benson DF. Depression in epilepsy. Significance and phenomenology. Arch Neurol. 1986;43(8):766-70.
2 Lambert MV, Robertson MM. Depression in epilepsy: etiology, phenomenology, and treatment. Epilepsia. 1999;40 (Suppl 10):S21-47.
3) Whisman MA, Perez JE, Ramel W. Factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) in a student sample. J Clin Psychol. 2000;56(4):545-51