Spirituality in epilepsy - A Hungarian study

The relationship between epilepsy and spirituality/religiosity has long been studied, but prior findings are inconsistent and mainly derived from highly religious societies. We aimed to assess the level of spirituality in a largely secular sample of Hungarian adults with focal epilepsy and to analyze its associations with clinical features.

We conducted a cross‑sectional study of 129 patients with focal epilepsy. All participants completed the Index of Spirituality (INSPIRIT‑R) questionnaire and provided detailed sociodemographic and clinical information.

Religiosity was low among patients with epilepsy: 30.2% of patients were not religious at all, and 84.5% responded that almost never engage in religious or spiritual practices. These figures indicate slightly lower religiosity than the national figures from Hungary. High spirituality was associated with lower income (p = 0.003). Seizure‑free patients were more likely to have high spirituality: 57% of patients with high spirituality were seizure‑free, whereas seizure freedom was seen in only 34% of patients with low spirituality (p = 0.007). Isolated auras were also associated with higher spirituality: 39% of patients with high spirituality had isolated auras, whereas this rate was only 22% among patients with low spirituality (p = 0.037). Tonic-clonic seizures were associated with lower spirituality in univariate analysis but not after adjustment.

In our strongly secular cohort, religiosity and spirituality were low among patients with epilepsy: probably lower than in the general population. Spirituality in epilepsy appears more closely related to income, milder epilepsy, and aura experiences.