Abstracts

Rationale: Sleep and epilepsy have a dynamic and reciprocal interaction. Little is known about the sleep behaviors in which subjects with epilepsy engage, how these behaviors impact their sleep, and thus how these behaviors may directly or indirectly impact their seizure control. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sleep behaviors in a population of subjects with epilepsy and to determine if relationships exist between these sleep behaviors and the subjects' seizure frequency. Methods: A total of 64 participants recruited from an epilepsy clinic and long-term seizure monitoring unit completed a questionnaire that was developed specifically for this study to assess both sleep behaviors and seizure frequency. The participants' questionnaires were scored with each sleep hygiene violation marked as a sleep hygiene "strike," and the total number of sleep hygiene strikes was also calculated. Additionally, seizure frequency per year was calculated based on the self-reported number of seizures. Results: On a scale from 0 to 6, the mean number of sleep hygiene strikes was 2.2 with a range of 0 to 5. Analysis of total sleep hygiene strikes and seizure frequency resulted in a positive Pearson correlation (r = 0.30, p < 0.05). However, when total sleep hygiene strikes and seizure frequency were adjusted for age, the correlation was less strong and no longer statistically significant (r = 0.25, p = 0.07). Those participants with poor sleep hygiene (greater than 2 sleep hygiene strikes) had a greater mean seizure frequency than those participants with good sleep hygiene (2 or fewer sleep hygiene strikes) (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Although the mean number of sleep hygiene strikes (2.2) was not classified as poor, there were a large number of participants with 3 or more sleep hygiene strikes. The results of the correlation and t-test both indicate that sleep hygiene may impact seizure control. Therefore, it may be clinically important to address sleep education in this population. Further research is needed to assess sleep behaviors in this population and to evaluate the efficacy of interventions such as sleep education and treatment.