Abstracts

Rationale: Epilepsy co-exists with other developmental disabilities, likely resulting in functional impairment in school-age children. We examined the school readiness, sense of general self and math scores in Canadian children and compared children with self-reported epilepsy to the national cohort using Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). Methods: Using data from Cycles 1 to 5 of the NLSCY, standard scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (PPVT-R), administered to children (4-5 years) were employed in a regression analysis to compare school readiness in children with and without epilepsy. The general self-score (Marsh Self Description Questionnaire) and a standardized mathematics score were included in a multi-level growth model with individual measures at level 1 and between person measures at level 2 using HLM 6.3. The intercept was centred at 6 years. Results: A total of 31 000 children were included in the analysis and 68 responders reported epilepsy. Children with epilepsy underperformed on the school readiness test (PPVT-R) in comparison to the rest of their cohort (β= 0.05, se=0.01, p=0.000). The Male cohort also underperformed in comparison to females (β =0.033, se=0.001, p=0.000). Using a multi-level growth model, we found general self scores were not significantly different between children with or without epilepsy. While females scored significantly lower on the general self score at the intercept compared to males (β= .313, se = 0.039, p=0.000), there was no statistically significantly difference in the math scores between the genders or for children with epilepsy at the intercept or slope. There was a higher proportion of missing data among students with epilepsy, indicating that students with more severe disabilities may not have been included in the data collection. Conclusions: Children with epilepsy display lower school readiness, however, this does not necessarily translate into poorer performance measures in the general self and math scores, for students that are able to complete the tests in later school years.