Sleep quality and related clinical features in patients with epilepsy: A preliminary report

The relationship between sleep and epilepsy is complex and involves multiple mechanisms. Patients with epilepsy (PWE) often report fatigue and daytime sleepiness, and are often diagnosed with comorbid sleep disorders that are thought to be a direct corollary of seizures, adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), or a combination of these two factors. The emergence of depressive symptomatology in PWE can also lead to decreases in quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep quality, clinical characteristics, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), fatigue, and depression in PWE.

Seventy-five consecutive PWE were included in the study. Demographic data, type and frequency of seizures, treatment regimens, number of seizures in the last 12 months, and relationship between seizures and sleep quality were recorded. Sleep quality, fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and depression symptoms were evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), respectively.

Patients (43 females, 32 males) had a mean age of 31.3 ± 11 years, a mean age of epilepsy onset of 18 ± 11.4 years, and a mean disease duration of 13.2 ± 9.9 years. Thirty-two (42.7%) patients had poor sleep quality, while 44 (58.7%) had fatigue, 18 (24%) had daytime sleepiness, and 56 (74.7%) had depression. The FSS, ESS, and BDI scores of the patients with PSQI ≥5 were significantly higher (p = 0.048, p = 0.018, p < 0.001, respectively). Patients with poor sleep quality had more frequent seizures (p = 0.040).

Our study found that poor sleep quality in PWE may be associated with frequency of seizures and symptoms of fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and depression. Determining sleep disorders in PWE is essential as it may be a determinant of the patients' quality of life.