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Published on: February 22, 2018
Depressive symptoms contribute to quality of life in children with epilepsy
Fumikazu Sano1, Hideaki Kanemura1, Tomoko Tando1
1Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan.
Insights
In children with epilepsy, depression significantly impacts quality of life (QOL) more than seizure characteristics or anxiety. Addressing depression is key to improving QOL in pediatric epilepsy patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Child Psychiatry
- Quality of Life Research
Background:
- Improving quality of life (QOL) is a primary goal in pediatric epilepsy management.
- While psychiatric comorbidity is a known QOL predictor in adults with epilepsy, its impact on children is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- This study aimed to evaluate QOL in children with epilepsy.
- The research sought to identify the strongest predictors of QOL in this population.
Main Methods:
- The study involved 28 children with epilepsy who completed the KINDL-R for QOL assessment.
- Clinical status was evaluated using the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children (DSRS-C), Children Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS), and SEALS.
- Demographic and clinical factors were analyzed as potential QOL predictors.
Main Results:
- Depression, measured by the DSRS-C total score, was the strongest predictor of overall QOL (r = -0.69, p < 0.01).
- Depression scores also significantly predicted physical (r = -0.58, p < 0.01) and emotional wellbeing (r = -0.53, p < 0.05) subscales.
Conclusions:
- Symptoms of depression were more predictive of QOL than seizure type, duration, number of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), or anxiety.
- While the number of AEDs showed some effect, depression symptoms had a more prominent impact on QOL.
Background:
Improvement of the quality of life (QOL) for children with epilepsy is one of the most important therapeutic goals. It is widely acknowledged that in adults with epilepsy one of the best QOL predictors is psychiatric comorbidity. In children with epilepsy, however, it is not clear whether psychiatric comorbidity impairs QOL.
Aims:
The aim of this study was to evaluate QOL in children with epilepsy and to identify the strongest predictors of the same.
Methods:
A total of 28 enrolled patients completed the Questionnaire for Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life in Children (KINDL-R) and 3 assessments of clinical status: the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children (DSRS-C), the Children Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS), and the Side Effects and Life Satisfaction (SEALS). Various demographic and clinical factors were analyzed as possible predictors of KINDL-R scores.
Results:
The strongest predictor of QOL was the total DSRS-C score (r = -0.69, p < 0.01), which also predicted physical (r = -0.58, p < 0.01) and emotional wellbeing (r = -0.53, p < 0.05) subscale scores.
Conclusions:
Symptoms of depression were more predictive of QOL than were seizure type, seizure duration, number and adverse effects of AEDs, or anxiety. Number of AEDs did have an effect, just not as prominent as symptoms of depression.
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