Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 53. No. 4., 2014.
Original scientific paper
Psychiatric Comorbidities Among Patients with Epilepsy in Montenegro
Slavica Vujisić
; Clinical Department of Neurology, Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro; Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
Sanja Vodopić
; Clinical Department of Neurology, Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro; Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
Ljiljana Radulović
; Clinical Department of Neurology, Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro; Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
Lidija Injac-Stevović
; Clinical Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro; Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities, depression and anxiety, among patients with epilepsy in the outpatient Clinic for Epilepsy, Clinical Centre of Montenegro. Patients aged 18 and above with a diagnosis of epilepsy for at least one year were consecutively enrolled during a six-month period. Patients anonymously filled out a questionnaire which included data on the gender, age, education, marital status and degree of seizure control. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) were used to evaluate the presence or absence of anxiety and depression. Total number of study patients was 70, including 52 patients with partial seizures and 18 patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. The mean patient age was 37}7.92 years. The prevalence of depression in our sample was 32.8%, whereas the prevalence of anxiety was 21.4%. Patients with partial seizures were more depressed, while those with idiopathic generalized seizures were more anxious (p<0.01). Depression was associated with a lower educational level, unemployment and poor seizure control (p<0.05). The number of antiepileptic drugs showed a trend towards negative association with depression (p=0.005). Anxiety was associated with the level of education and uncontrolled seizures (p<0.01). Neither depression nor anxiety was associated with age, gender, marital status, age at onset and duration of epilepsy. Psychiatric disorders among patients with epilepsy are quite common but yet under-recognized. Therefore, appropriate recognition and efficient treatment of these disorders in patients with epilepsy might improve their quality of life and could consequently lead to better treatment success.
Keywords
Epilepsy; Depression; Anxiety disorders - classification; Psychiatric status rating scales; Comorbidity; HAM-D; HAM-A
Hrčak ID:
136740
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2014.
Visits: 2.176 *