ABSTRACT

Epilepsy, according to our current knowledge, does not increase the risk of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection or the rate of complications related to this infection. However, the COVID-19 pandemic can have adverse effects on patients with epilepsy (PWE) and affect the mental health of the community in general. This study aimed to evaluate the depression and anxiety of epilepsy patients, the effect of the epidemic on the frequency of seizures, and the quality of life of the patients in the past 3 months during the pandemic.

The patients who were referred to an epilepsy outpatient clinic of a tertiary neuropsychiatry center within the past 2 years were retrospectively evaluated. The data regarding the seizures, quality of life, anxiety, and depression were recorded during follow-up or through an online platform. Seizure frequency, frequency change during the pandemic (April 2020 to June 2020), medications, admissions were obtained, and Beck Depression and Anxiety Scale were applied to the patients. The patients’ quality of life was evaluated using the “Quality of Life Scale Short Form-36 (SF-36)” form.

One hundred sixty-four patients (77 men, 87 women) included in the study were analyzed. The median overall seizure frequency and seizure frequency during pandemic were 0.2 seizures/month (0–1) and 0 seizures/month (0–0.9), respectively. 125(76.2%) of the patients reported that they had no seizures during that period. No significant difference was found between the frequency of seizures reported by the patients before and during the pandemic period (p=0.12). Only one patient had a PCR confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, and the other six patients were diagnosed clinically and radiologically. No significant relationship was found between COVID-19 diagnosis and seizure frequency (p=0.671). 105(64.02%) patients were considered to have depressive symptoms with ten or more points according to the Beck Depression Scale. 116 patients (70.7%) were considered to have anxiety symptoms with nine or more points from the Beck Anxiety Scale.

This study was conducted to evaluate the seizure frequency, psychiatric status, and quality of life of PWE in April, May, and June 2020 during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in our country while the social restrictions were applied at the highest level. We found that there was no significant increase in the seizure frequency of patients during the pandemic period and depressive symptoms were common in this patient group and affected their quality of life.

Keywords: Anxiety, coronavirus, COVID-19, depression, epilepsy, pandemic, quality of life