Abstracts

Rationale: Persons with epilepsy are at increased risk of depression, anxiety and reduced quality of life as a result of various factors. Previous studies on the relationship between epilepsy related variables and behavioral function have mainly been conducted on patients with persisting seizures. The majority of epilepsy patients are seizure free and the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between epilepsy related variables and behavioural function in epilepsy patients without seizures.Methods: 126 adults with epilepsy on AED monotherapy and without epileptic seizures for at least two years were investigated with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in addition to a neurological examination, MRI and EEG. Results: The group had education and employment status similar to the population mean and MMPI-2 group scores in the normal range. However, subscales measuring vague physical symptoms (Hs), depression (D) and health concerns (Hea) had scores close to one standard deviation above the normative mean. In addition, the percentage of patients with pathological scores on these scales was clearly above what is normally expected. Conclusions: The study demonstrated a high frequency of depressive symptoms and health related concerns in seizure free patients. Neurobiological risk factors or possible AED effects did not seem to explain the results. Psychosocial risk factors commonly associated with depression in epilepsy patients may explain the findings.