Abstracts

Rationale: According to Janz and Christian (1957) patients with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME) present unsteadiness, lack of discipline, hedonism and indifference towards their disease. Our objective is to evaluate if they have differences in impulsiveness and executive function, when compared to controls, as well as to evaluate the relation between impulsiveness and other personality traits. Methods: Inclusion criteria were: age >=18yrs; schooling >=11yrs. and IQ >=70. Impulsiveness was measured by Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) (Patton, Stanford, Barratt; 1995, 2010) and personality traits by the Neo Revised Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) (McCrae & Costa; 1990, 2010). Neuropsychological tests used were: Vocabulary and Block Design Tasks for the estimated Intelligence Quotient (IQ) (Spreen & Strauss, 2006), Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA), Digit Span, Trail Making Tests (TMT) A and B, Stroop Test (ST) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). A healthy control group was used for obtaining z-scores and it was composed by: 1) BIS-11: n= 76 (18-60yrs); 2) NEO PI-R: n=100 (18-60yrs); 3) Neuropsychological evaluation: n=197 (18-70yrs). Results: 50 patients (35 women) with mean age 32.5yrs. (±9.2) were evaluated. On BIS-11 patients showed higher scores in Total Impulsiveness (z=0.37; p=0.005) and Motor Impulsiveness (z=-0.79; p<0.001). NEO PI-R results were within the normative range, however when compared to controls differences could be observed in Neuroticism (z=-0.60; p=<0.001), Openness (z=0.38; p=0.043), Agreeableness (z=-0.38; p=0.033) and Conscientiousness (z=-0.53; p=0.003), with patients scores tending towards dysfunctionality. Correlation between NEO PI-R and BIS-11 were: positive for Neuroticism with Total Impulsiveness (r=0.395; p=0.005), Motor Impulsiveness (r=0.375; p=0.008) and Non-Planning Impulsiveness (r=0.339; p=0.017); Conscientiousness showed negative correlation with Total Impulsiveness (r=-0.572; p<0.001), Motor Impulsiveness (r=-0.389; p=0.006), Attentive Impulsiveness (r=-0.456; p=0.001) and Non-Planning Impulsiveness (r=-0.476; p=0.001). Patient’s neuropsychological results, when compared to controls, showed worse performance in COWA (z=-0.43; p=0.009) and on WCST in Total Number of Completed Categories (z=-2.08; p=0.005), Trials Taken to Complete First Category (z=1.56; p=0.013), Percentage of Total Errors (z=1.56; p<0.001), Perseveration Errors (z=0.73; p=0.002), Non-Perseveration Errors (z=1.05; p=0.003) and Conceptual Level Responses (z=-1.52; p<0.001). Correlation between BIS-11 and neuropsychological tests showed that Non-Planning Impulsiveness was correlated with worse results on ST I (r=0.371; p=0.008), ST II (r=0.368; p=0.009), ST III (r=0.359; p=0.010), TMT A (r=0.297; p=0.036) and TMT B (r=0.295; p=0.038). Conclusions: When compared to controls patients with JME have higher levels of impulsiveness and presence of personality traits that are correlated with executive dysfunction, compromising multiple aspects of their lives, including treatment. This reinforce the need to promote neuropsychological rehabilitation programs focused on impulsiveness and executive dysfunction that would, possibly, lead to an improvement on unfavorable traits of personality. Funding: This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) -Finance Code 001.