A Comparative Analysis Of The Clinical Profile Of Patients With Epilepsy Suffering With Psychiatric Comorbidity

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Dr Saurabh Jaiswal, Dr Abhinav Kuchhal, Dr Ashwini Kumar Kuchhal

Abstract

Aim: To compare the clinical profile of the patients with epilepsy according to Presence or Absence of Psychiatric Comorbidity


Material and methods:The research was carried out in the Psychiatry Department of Rohilkhand Medical College & Hospital (RMCH), Bareilly, a  Tertiary care centre in Uttar Pradesh, India. In this research, a total of 100 epileptic patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited. Purposive sampling was used to recruit people for the research. This research comprised individuals over the age of 18, epileptic sufferers, and patients in the inter-ictal period.


Results: Mean age of the patients with psychiatric co morbidity (32.67±9.50 years) was significantly higher (t = 2.931, df = 98, p<0.05) than those without psychiatric comorbidity (28.79±9.21 years).  Mean GHQ12 Scores in patients with epilepsy having psychiatric comorbidity (13.76±8.191) was significantly higher (Independent samples t test=2.23, p<0.05) than those without psychiatric comorbidity (10.51±6.385). Significantly more (χ2=9.82; df=1; p<0.05) number of patients with epilepsy were found to be suffering from a psychiatric disorder who had a psychiatric disorder in their first or second degree relatives. In terms of other clinical variables like age of onset of seizure, duration of epilepsy, type of seizures, etiology, age of onset (in years), duration of epilepsy (in years), seizure frequency, family history of seizure, past history of mental disorder, there was no significant group difference between the patients with epilepsy with psychiatric comorbidity & without psychiatric comorbidity.


Conclusion: This study's results add weight to the widespread anecdotal evidence that people with epilepsy regularly co-occur with a number of mental illnesses, including personality disorder. Taken together, our findings highlight the critical need of recognising the multifaceted nature of mental comorbidity in epilepsy patients for the sake of therapy, improved outcome, and policy making.

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