Quality of life and depression in an understudied population: Young adults with epilepsy

There are limited data on psychosocial functioning in young adults with epilepsy (YAWE) despite myriad milestones during this life stage.

The purpose of this study was to analyze aggregate data from the Managing Epilepsy Well Network Integrated Database (MEW-DB) from 15 studies to examine depressive symptoms and quality of life (QoL) in this understudied population.

(1) describe sociodemographic characteristics and (2) analyze sociodemographic variables and depressive symptoms as predictors of QoL of YAWE.

The MEW-DB was queried for all young adults ages 18-29 with completed standardized psychosocial measures of QoL, depressive symptoms, and sociodemographic information. Of 418 young adults, n = 237 from 11 studies had QoL data and n = 85 had complete data for regression modeling. Mood items were categorized into cognitive (COG) and somatic (SOM) phenotypes of depression symptoms. Multivariable regression models examined individual relationships for suicidality; COG; SOM; and total depression symptom score on QoL, adjusting for sociodemographic attributes.

Total depression symptoms, suicidality, COG symptoms, and SOM symptoms were significantly associated with QoL. Total depression symptom score explained the most variance in QoL.

This novel analysis leveraged aggregated data focused on epilepsy self-management. YAWE have not been well-studied as a stand-alone group. Separating the effects of cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression does not appear to be meaningful for understanding QoL as the effects of cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression appear similar. Future research needs to examine cognitive and somatic effects in greater detail to understand effects on QoL and other health-related outcomes.