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Burden of depression and anxiety among caregivers of children having structural epilepsy
Kumud Pahwa1, Rohan Acharya1, Kapil Bhalla1
1Department of Pediatrics, Pt. B.D. Sharma, PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
Insights
Parents of children with structural epilepsy experience high levels of anxiety and depression. This highlights the need for support for these caregivers to improve child care and quality of life.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neurology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Structural cerebral cortex malformations are a common cause of childhood epilepsy and developmental disabilities.
- Caregivers of children with epilepsy face significant psychological burdens, yet data on their stress and depression levels are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence and burden of anxiety and depression among parents of children with structural epilepsy.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted with 100 parents of children (aged 2-14 years) diagnosed with structural epilepsy.
- The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) were used to assess mental health.
- Data analysis involved Microsoft Office Excel and SPSS v22, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05.
Main Results:
- Parents of children with structural epilepsy exhibited higher levels of anxiety and depression.
- Elevated scores on both HDRS and HAM-A were observed in parents whose children were on polytherapy (P = 0.002 for HDRS; P = 0.001 for HAM-A).
Conclusions:
- A high prevalence of anxiety and depression exists among caregivers of children with structural epilepsy.
- These parents require additional support to mitigate mental health issues that could impact their child's care and overall quality of life.
- Community-level preventive and therapeutic interventions are recommended to reduce the psychiatric burden on these families.
Context:
Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders in childhood. Structural malformations of the cerebral cortex are an important cause of developmental disabilities and epilepsy; this leads to a significant amount of psychological burden on parents of such children. Despite being a common and debilitating neurological illness, there is a paucity of data on the burden of stress and depression in parents of such children.
Aims:
The objective was to find out the burden of these illnesses on caregivers of such children.
Settings And Design:
This was a hospital-based cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted in the Department of Pediatrics (both inpatient and outpatient), PGIMS Rohtak, during the period of June-September 2023. Parents of children with structural epilepsy (age: 2-14 years) were study subjects.
Methods And Material:
A cross-sectional study involving parents of 100 children with structural epilepsy (aged 2-14 years) was conducted using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A).
Statistical Analysis Used:
Data were recorded in Microsoft Office Excel. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences v22. Statistical significance was checked by P value (two-tailed) considering value < 0.05 as significant.
Results:
Higher levels of anxiety and depression were seen in parents of children having structural epilepsy. Relatively higher levels were seen in parents of such children who were receiving polytherapy (HDRS (P = 0.002); HAM-A (0.001)).
Conclusions:
This study shows a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression among caregivers of children having structural epilepsy. Parents of such children require extra support as they appear to be a population prone to illnesses that will hinder the proper care of children with structural epilepsy and their quality of life. This circle has to be broken for better upbringing and treatment compliance for such children. Preventive and therapeutic interventions need to be taken to reduce the burden of such psychiatric illness at the community level.
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