Seizure Frequency and Age of Menopause in Women with Epilepsy
Abstract number :
3.236
Submission category :
Year :
2001
Submission ID :
2131
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2001, 06:00 AM
Authors :
C.L. Harden, MD, Neurology, Weill Medical Center at Cornell University, New York, NY; B.G. Nikolov, MD, Neurology, Weill Medical Center at Cornell University, New York, NY; B.S. Koppel, MD; N. Rivera, Neurology, Weill Medical Center at Cornell University,
RATIONALE: We sought to determine the age of menopause in women with epilepsy and assess any influence of seizure frequency and epilepsy treatment on the age of cessation of menses. The age of natural menopause in the general population is 51 years.
METHODS: Women between the ages of 45 and 60 years from 2 urban epilepsy practices were questioned regarding menopausal issues and charts were reviewed for information regarding their epilepsy. Further, a group of women with an early age of menopause was compared in terms of seizure frequency and treatment with a second group having an expected or higher age of menopause. Seizure frequency averaged over the lifetime was categorized into 3 broad groups: [lt]20 lifetime seizures, [gt] 1 seizure/month, or [lt]1 seizure/month but [gt]20 lifetime seizures. Number of all antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and number of enzyme-inducing (EI)AEDs ever used were recorded. Data was analyzed using t-tests, chi-square analyses and Spearman[ssquote]s rank correlation.
RESULTS: Data were used from 53 women who were in natural menopause. The mean age of menopause was 47.7 years (SD 3.9, range 37-56).
Twelve women (group 1) had early menopause, from age 37 to 45 years; 11 women (group 2) had later menopause, from age 50 to 56 years. In group 1, 9 had [gt] 1 seizure/month, and 3 had [lt]1 seizure/month but [gt]20 lifetime seizures. No subject in group 1 had [lt] 20 lifetime seizures. In group 2, 4 had [gt] 1 seizure/month, 2 had [lt]1 seizure/month but [gt]20 lifetime seizures and 5 had [lt]20 lifetime seizures. This distribution in seizure frequency was significantly different (p=0.029). Age of menopause was significantly inversely correlated with seizure rate using these 3 categories (p=0.042).
In group 1, the mean number of AEDs ever used was 4.9 (SD 3.1, range 1-11) and the mean number of EIAEDs ever used was 3.0 (SD 1.4, range 1-5). In group 2, the mean number of AEDs ever used was 3.5 (SD 2.5, range 1-9) and the mean number of EIAEDs ever used was 2.2 (SD 1.3, range 1-5). The difference between these groups was regarding AED use was not statistically significant.
Although the current age of women in the 2 groups was different (51 years for group 1 and 57 years for group 2), the number years in menopause was not significantly different between groups (8.2 years +/- 5.6 for group 1 and 5.4 +/- 4.8 years for group 2).
CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest an inverse relationship between seizure frequency and age of menopause. No effect of AED treatment was revealed in this preliminary analysis.
Support: NIH Grant [pound]1RO1-NS38473-01A1