Abstracts

Epilepsy may have a significant impact on the intelligence and emotions especially in childhood and adolescent ages. The objective of this study was to elucidate the clinical factors influencing the patient[apos]s intelligence, anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with epilepsy., Subjects were 90 epilepsy patients between the ages of 6 and 17 years (mean 11.8[plusmn]3.9 years) and their parents. We acquired simplified neuropsychological tests including verbal, performance and full scale IQ, the Stroop and the Trail-making test (TMT) from each patient. They also filled up the Impact of Childhood Illness Scale (ICIS), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Revised Children[apos]s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), the Children[apos]s Depression Inventory (CDI), the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES) in children with epilepsy and their families. We compared the differences across patient groups according to the clinical factors such as seizure frequency, epilepsy types and duration, mono- or polytherapy, etc., Full scale IQ was lower in patients with poor seizure control than seizure free group (75.0[plusmn]29.0 vs. 101.6[plusmn]23.1; [italic]p[/italic]=0.029), and in patients with polytherapy than monotherapy (72.6[plusmn]27.4 vs. 102.7[plusmn]22.1; [italic]p[/italic]=0.029). ICIS, QRS, CBCL and Conners scale were higher when patients had poor seizure control ([italic]p[/italic]=0.011, 0.027, 0.047 and 0.075, respectively), and took more than one antiepileptic drugs ([italic]p[/italic]=0.008, 0.003, 0.022 and 0.033). STAI and RCMAS were higher in patients with epilepsy within the first 2 years or longer than 4 years ([italic]p[/italic]=0.023 and 0.043). Increased parental anxiety based on STAI were correlated with increased ICIS, RCMAS, CDI, and Conners scale ([italic]p[/italic]=0.002, 0.002, 0.009, and 0.004)., Epilepsy patients in childhood and adolescent ages have significant impacts on their intelligence and emotions if they have poorly controlled seizures or take more than one antiepileptic medications.,