Abstracts

Studies have shown that adults with epilepsy complain of poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). This may be to seizures, anticonvulsants or a primary sleep disorder¹. Similar studies however, are lacking in children. We hypothesized that daytime sleepiness and sleep disorders are more common in children with epilepsy compared to controls. Children with epilepsy (treated with non-benzodiazepines, non-barbiturate anticonvulsants) and age/sex matched controls between ages 8 and 18 were recruited for this pilot study. Subjects with prior diagnosis of sleep disorder, ADHD (on stimulants) and those on psychotropic medications were excluded from the study. All subjects completed the Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS) and parents completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ). Mann-Whitney U test was used for group comparisons. Marshfield Clinic institutional review board approved the study. 25 children with epilepsy (8 male; 17 female), and 25 age and gender-matched controls (8 male; 17 female) were enrolled in the study. Parents of children with epilepsy reported significantly worse daytime sleepiness on PSQ (p[lt]0.001). Furthermore, these parents more often reported complaints of sleep apnea (p[lt]0.001) and parasomnias (p[lt]0.001) compared to controls. On the PDSS, children with epilepsy reported worse daytime sleepiness score compared to controls. But this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.08). Epilepsy syndrome and anticonvulsants used were not significant predictors of EDS among patients, although this is because of a small sample size. Daytime sleepiness appears to be common among children with epilepsy which may be due to underlying sleep disorders. The main limitation of our study is the small sample size. Moreover, we have no objective documentation of sleep disorders using polysomnograms. Further studies are needed to determine factors underlying EDS, and whether treatment of underlying sleep disorder improves EDS among children with epilepsy.
Ref: Vaughn BV. D[apos]Cruz OF. Sleep and epilepsy. Seminars in Neurology. 24(3): 301-13, 2004 (Supported by Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation.)