| Summary: | Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder sometimes associated with various forms of psychiatric disturbances. Depression, one of such disorders is commonly reported as being higher in epilepsy than in the general population. In a study to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in adolescents and young adults attending the pediatric neurology clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu and also identify clinical factors associated with these symptoms, 60 epileptic patients aged 16-23 years were screened for depressive symptoms using the Zung self-rating Depression scale (SDS). Their results were compared with those from 54 controls. Thirty-one patients (18 males and 13 females) or 51.6% had depressive symptoms (i.e SDS indices of 50 and above) as compared with 12 controls (22.2%). This was statistically significant (Z=2.84 P<0.005). Sixty seven percent (67%) of patients aged 20-23 years had depressive symptoms as compared with only 49% of patients aged 16-19years. This was statistically significant with P value < 0.001. Sex and social class did not affect the SDA scores. Depressive symptoms were commonest in patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures and complex partial seizures. Also there was significant relationship between seizures control and SDS score (X2 = 9.91 P < 0.001).
It is concluded that depression is a significant problem in adolescents and young adults with epilepsy, and prevalence is influenced by seizure-type and the level of seizure control.
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