Evaluation of resilience in pediatric well-controlled epilepsy patients

The main objective of this study was to assess the resilience scores of children with well-controlled epilepsy and their healthy counterparts using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The secondary objective was to investigate the potential association between the age at onset, seizure type, and anti-seizure medication, and resilience in pediatric patients with well-controlled epilepsy.

This cross-sectional case-control study was performed on children aged 10-18 in a Training and Research Hospital Pediatric Neurology and Pediatric Outpatient Clinic. The study encompassed a total of 103 participants, comprising 57 children diagnosed with epilepsy and 46 healthy counterparts. Resilience and its individual components, namely hardiness, flexibility, coping, purpose, optimism, regulation of emotion and cognition, and self-efficacy, were assessed utilizing the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC).

There was no statistically significant difference observed in the total CD-RISC scores between children with epilepsy (61.0 ± 17.7) and the healthy cohort (60.8 ± 14.4) (p: 0.97). Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis revealed no significant correlations between the CD-RISC total score and its individual component scores, taking into consideration various factors such as age, gender, age at onset, last seizure date, seizure type, EEG findings, and brain MRI findings.

Regardless of age, gender, age at onset, seizure type and anti-seizure medication, in well-controlled epilepsy, resilience is similar to that of healthy children. New studies are needed to evaluate resilience in children with epilepsy who have uncontrolled seizures and receive polytherapy.