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Psychosocial outcomes in children two years after epilepsy surgery: has anything changed?

Irene M Elliott1, Lucyna Lach, Darren S Kadis

  • 1Division of Neurology, and Department of Nursing, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. irene.elliott@sickkids.ca

Epilepsia
|January 8, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Epilepsy surgery improved behavior and social skills in children over two years. Social function showed improvement in the surgical group, while the non-surgical group declined.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Neurosurgery
  • Child Psychology

Background:

  • Epilepsy surgery is a treatment option for children with medically refractory epilepsy.
  • Understanding the long-term psychosocial outcomes after epilepsy surgery is crucial for comprehensive patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To prospectively evaluate psychosocial outcomes in children 7-18 years old, two years after epilepsy surgery.
  • To compare these outcomes with a control group of children with medically refractory epilepsy.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to assess behavioral and social problems in 20 children undergoing epilepsy surgery and 12 controls.
  • Collected data preoperatively, 1 year, and 2 years post-surgery.
  • Employed mixed factorial ANOVAs and regression analyses to identify significant effects and predictors.

Main Results:

  • Both surgical and non-surgical groups showed improvements in general behavior, externalizing, aggression, and delinquent behaviors over time.
  • The epilepsy surgery group demonstrated better scores in withdrawn behavior and overall competence.
  • Significant improvements in social function and social problem scores were observed in the surgical group, contrasting with declines in the non-surgical group.

Conclusions:

  • Psychosocial improvements, particularly in social function, may require time to manifest after epilepsy surgery.
  • Further long-term prospective studies are needed to fully understand the evolving psychosocial benefits post-surgery.
Abstract

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