Driving rate in patients with seizures: Epilepsy vs. functional seizures

We investigated the rate of driving in patients with seizures [i.e., epilepsy or functional seizures (FS)]. We also investigated the factors that may be associated with NOT driving a motor vehicle.

This was a retrospective study of an electronic database of patients with seizures that has been built prospectively over more than a decade. All patients, 20 years of age or older, with a diagnosis of idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE), focal epilepsy, or FS were studied at the outpatient epilepsy clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, from 2008 until 2020.

One thousand four hundred and ninety-two patients were studied (918 patients with focal epilepsy, 338 people with IGE, and 236 individuals with FS). In total, 387 patients (25.9%) reported driving a motor vehicle. Driving rate in patients with IGE was 26.9%, in people with focal epilepsy was 27.0%, and in individuals with FS was 20.3%; the difference was not significant (p = 0.10). Female sex and a younger age at the onset of seizures were significantly associated with not driving a motor vehicle. Being married and having any education were significantly inversely associated with not driving a motor vehicle.

Most patients with seizures (either people with epilepsy or those with FS alike) do not drive a motor vehicle in their routine daily lives. Demographic factors (e.g., sex, marital status, and education) have significant associations with not driving a motor vehicle.