Abstracts

Rationale: Several factors may be associated with worse psychosocial adaptation of patients with epilepsy, such as: high frequency of seizures, low age of seizure onset, presence of depressive symptoms and anxiety and low memory performance. The objective of this research is to investigate the possible association between social adequacy, neuropsychological findings and clinical variables. Methods: We evaluated 24 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with unilateral mesial sclerosis,17 with left temporal lobe epilepsy and 7 with right temporal lobe epilepsy and 19 healthy volunteers with: 1) comprehensive neuropsychological battery composed by: Digit Span, Stroop Color Test, Trail Making Test, Control Oral Word Association, Boston Naming Test, Logical Memory, Visual Reproduction, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Matching Familiar Figure Test, Vocabulary and Matrix, 2) Social adjustment: Social Adjustment Scale (SAS), 3) depressive symptoms: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and 4) anxiety: Trait Anxiety Inventory / State (STAI). We used non parametric tests (Mann-Whitney and Spearman) for statistical analysis. Results: Patients performed significantly worse than healthy volunteers in the SAS, BDI, STAI and in all cognitive areas assessed: attention, executive function, memory, learning, language and intellectual potential. In healthy volunteers we observed significant positive correlations (r> .40, p <.05) between the factor Work (SAS) and inhibitory control, memory and depressive symptoms, marital relationship (SAS) and attention and anxiety, Global Social Adjustment (SAS) and working memory, memory and depressive symptoms. In the patients group there were significant positive correlations (r> .40, p <.05) between the factor Work (SAS) and attention, naming and intellectual potential; Leisure (SAS) and attention and anxiety, marital relationship (SAS) and anxiety and depressive symptoms, children relationship (SAS) and mental flexibility and attention, Domestic Life (SAS) and seizure frequency; Global Social Adjustment and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Patients with TLE have significant cognitive impairment, social maladjustment and increased depressive symptoms and anxiety. Different cognitive functions are related to social adjustment in patients and healthy volunteers. Therefore, treatment for epilepsy should include, in addition to AED, neuropsychological rehabilitation programs for specific cognitive functions regarding a better social adjustment and quality of life of patients and their families. Future studies should verify whether the atencional, executive functions and language are more important for the best social adjustment and evaluate whether neuropsychological rehabilitation programs focused on these functions promote improvement of psychosocial adaptation.