Abstracts

Rationale: We have previously published data showing a higher prevalence of symptoms of psychological distress and increased risk-taking behaviour in youth with epilepsy compared to controls. The aim of this presentation was to investigate how youth with epilepsy (YWE) aged 16-19 years perceive their social relationships with emphasis on loneliness, compared to controls. Methods: Data were cross-sectional and based on questionnaires from 10.571 youths (response rate 79%). The youths were asked to describe their feelings concerning social relationships. Questions could be answered as correct, partly correct or not correct. Answers were then grouped as correct or partly correct vs. not correct. Chi square was used for testing categorical variables. A multivariate analysis was conducted with feeling lonely as the dependant variable and having/having had epilepsy, gender, low family income and living with a single parent as independent factors. Results: 114 youths reported having or having had epilepsy (i.e. a life time prevalence of 1.2%). Significant differences were found between YWE and controls in social relationships: "I cannot choose whom I want to be friends with" was reported by 13.2 % vs. 7.1% in controls (p=0.012), "I have a feeling that nobody knows me well" in 11.6 % in YWE vs. 6.8% in controls (p=0.045), and 10.7 % of YWE stated that they felt lonely (5.5% in controls, p=0.016). The multivariate statistical analysis showed that low family income was the strongest predictor of feeling lonely (OR 2.3; CI 1.8-2.9; p<0.001), followed by having/having had epilepsy (OR 2.0; CI 1.1-3.7; p=0.026), female gender (OR 1.4; CI 1.2-1.7; p<0.001) and living with a single parent (OR 1.3; CI 1.0-1.6; p=0.019). Other chronic diseases (asthma or diabetes) were not found to be a predictor. Conclusions: Youth with epilepsy report more loneliness and problems in social relationships than their healthy peers. The feeling of being different, poor self-esteem and stigma reported in other studies could all be contributing factors. The resulting isolation at an age nearing adulthood could be a risk factor for continued problems with psychological and somatic health.