Cognitive and clinical variables associated with interictal dysphoric disorder in patients with epilepsy

The relationship between interictal dysphoric disorder (IDD) and cognitive impairment in adult patients with epilepsy (PWE) is poorly studied.

The Interictal Dysphoric Disorder Inventory (IDDI) with cognitive and clinical aspects was compared with Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31) and Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E) scores of 117 PWE at significance level p<0.05.

Interictal dysphoric disorder occurred in 25 (21.4%) PWE, and it was significantly associated with the presence of psychiatric disorders (PD) (α²; p=0.007), presence of major depressive episodes (p=0.03), lower educational level, older individuals, and those with a lower performance in the category fluency test (VF) (9.7±5.1 vs. 12.2±4.2; t-test; p=0.037). There was a negative correlation between QOLIE-31 and IDD. The predictive factors for the occurrence of IDD were the presence of PD (p=0.014) and lower performance in the VF (p=0.013).

The occurrence of IDD was high. Interictal dysphoric disorder was found in different epileptic syndromes, and it was associated with the presence of PD, depressive episodes, lower performance in VF, and lower quality of life (QoL).