The associations of psychopathology in epilepsy: a community study

There is a plethora of studies documenting the association between psychosocial disadvantage and epilepsy but a paucity of studies explaining the precise nature of that relationship. Previous studies have been hampered by methodological problems including small sample size and selection bias. This study examined the aetiology of psychopathology in epilepsy in a cross-sectional community study. A significant proportion of patients were anxious and depressed and many reported side effects of their medication. Stepwise multiple regression techniques were employed to examine the relationship between clinical, demographic and psychosocial variables. Results indicated that psychosocial variables were the best predictors of each other but when these were taken into account, patient perceived seizure severity was an important predictor variable in understanding the relationship between epilepsy and psychosocial functioning.