Psychiatric Comorbidity in Children with Epilepsy: A Cross-sectional 5 Years Rural Prevalence Study

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders. In children, it has long debilitating course and is associated with comorbidities including psychiatric comorbidity. To tackle this burden of comorbidities, we must know the extent of problem. Hence, there is a need for estimation of prevalence of psychiatry disorder in children with epilepsy.

The present study was aimed at measuring the prevalence of various psychiatry disorders among children suffering from epilepsy.

Cross-sectional chart review.

We reviewed case record files of all patients with a diagnosis of epilepsy in the age group of 9-17 years. Chart review was done for 5 years, May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2012. A total of 718 patients record were included in the study after satisfying inclusion criteria and excluding nonepilepsy diagnosis.

Statistics was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 18.0). Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the result, Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U-test used wherever applicable.

The prevalence of childhood psychiatric disorder among children with epilepsy found to be 31.2%. We also found that having a partial component (73.21%, n = 164) in seizure has more chances of psychopathology in comparison to generalized seizure (8.1%, n = 18). Among them, those having a partial component with generalization (66.96%, n = 150) had a greater prevalence of psychopathology. Mental retardation was most common psychiatric disorder among psychopathology followed by manic/depressive illness (unipolar) followed by unspecified nonorganic psychosis.

From our study, we demonstrate the significant mental health needs of children with epilepsy. The evident high prevalence of psychiatry disorder emphasizes the need for psychopathology assessment and treatment as a part of any comprehensive epilepsy clinic.