ABSTRACT
Introduction
People with epilepsy are more likely than the general population to have comorbid psychiatric disorders that include anxiety, depression, and interictal and chronic psychoses. Even though psychiatric comorbidity is common in epilepsy, it is underrecognized and undertreated, both in specialty epilepsy centers and also in community-based services. A thorough assessment of this was sought in this study among the patients of Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh (India).
Materials and methods
A total of 100 patients with epilepsy who visited the psychiatry outpatient clinic were recruited for this study. They were assessed in detail for the presence of comorbid psychiatric disorders on Axis 1 with the help of Structured Clinical Interview for Fourth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Results
Overall, it was found that a comorbidity of psychiatric disorders was present in 45% of patients with epilepsy. The frequency of cooccurrence of different types of psychiatric disorders was as follows: Mood disorders 21%, anxiety disorders 14%, and psychotic disorders 28%.
Conclusion
Psychiatric comorbidities were found to be a common problem in patients with epilepsy. The results of this study are in line with many different research works both in India and abroad. A proper address of this issue is important for management, better outcome, and policy making in patients with epilepsy.
How to cite this article
Jaiswal S, Kumar S, Sharma CS, Kuchhal A, Jaiswal A. Psychiatric Comorbidities in Patients with Epilepsy: A Cross-sectional Study. Int J Adv Integ Med Sci 2017;2(1):24-28.
Psychiatric comorbidities in people with epilepsy
