Mental Health of Adolescents With Epilepsy in Enugu, Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study

Adolescence is an important period, marked by significant changes in biological and psychosocial domains. Epilepsy is a chronic neurologic disorder associated with social stigma and prejudice. The etiology of depression in epilepsy appears to be a complex interplay between psychosocial and neurobiologic factors. This period may be too taxing for the adolescent with epilepsy to steer, as epilepsy can affect the development of independence by its social, educational, and mental health effects. The study aimed to compare the burden of depression in adolescents with epilepsy with the general population.One hundred forty-five adolescents with epilepsy and their classmates matched for age and gender were studied over a 9-month period. Zung Self-rating Depression Scale was used to determine the burden of depression in the study population.Among the subjects, 70 (48.3%) had scores in the depressive range to varying degrees compared to 38 (26.2%) controls. The difference in scores was significant (OR=2.628, P < .001). Among the population with positive scores, mild depression category was the commonest for both groups (40% and 22.8%, respectively). There was a statistically significant relationship between gender, seizure type, and depression, whereas there was no significant relationship between age, social class, number of antiepileptic drugs, seizure frequency in the last 12 months, and depression.Adolescents with epilepsy had higher rates of depression than the general population. Hence, there might be need for routine screening of adolescents with epilepsy for early detection and management of depression to improve their overall well-being and quality of life.