Prevalence of Psychopathology in Dutch Epilepsy Inpatients: A Comparative Study

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Dutch patients with epilepsy in comparison with epidemiological data on a representative sample of the Dutch population. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in 209 epilepsy patients and compared with findings in the general Dutch population. The prevalence in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and extra-temporal lobe epilepsy (extra-TLE) was also compared. Psychiatric disorders most frequently found in patients with epilepsy were anxiety and mood disorders. The last-year prevalence of these disorders was 25% for anxiety disorders and 19% for mood disorders. Compared with the general Dutch population, the prevalence of these disorders was significantly higher in epilepsy. No differences were found between patients with TLE and extra-TLE. It can be concluded that patients with epilepsy admitted to a tertiary epilepsy center suffer more often from mood and anxiety disorders than the general population.