Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Aug 4;73(5):366-71.
doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181b04c83.

Depression and symptoms affect quality of life in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures

W Curt LaFrance Jr  1 , Stephanie Syc
Affiliations

Depression and symptoms affect quality of life in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures

W Curt LaFrance Jr et al. Neurology. .

Abstract

Background: In patients with active epilepsy, adverse medication effects and severity of depression are correlated with health-related quality of life, but seizure frequency is not. We sought to examine if the same pattern exists in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES).

Methods: We administered seizure calendars, quality of life (QOL) scales, depression scales, and symptom checklists to 49 patients with video EEG-confirmed PNES. Data analysis consisted of performing Pearson correlation coefficients, scatter plots, and t tests.

Results: Depression and symptom scores significantly increased as health-related QOL scores decreased (partial correlation coefficient r = -0.73 for both comparisons), whereas seizure count was nonsignificant (partial correlation coefficient r = -0.19).

Conclusions: As is seen in epilepsy, patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures demonstrate that higher depressive symptoms and somatic symptoms are independently related to worsening quality of life (QOL); however, seizure frequency is not. Seizure frequency is an important focus in patient care and treatment trials. The findings underscore the importance of, along with seizure counts, also examining QOL, depression, and somatic symptoms in patients with seizures.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

None
Figure 1 Scatterplot of the correlation of health-related quality of life (Quality of Life in Epilepsy–31 [QOLIE-31]) with somatic symptoms (Symptom Checklist–90 [SCL-90]) (r = −0.73, p = 0.0001) QOLIE-31: the higher the score, the better the perceived quality of life. SCL-90: the higher the score, the worse the number of reported symptoms.
None
Figure 2 Scatterplot of the correlation of health-related quality of life (Quality of Life in Epilepsy–31 [QOLIE-31]) with depression scale scores (Beck Depression Inventory–II [BDI-II]) (r = −0.73, p = 0.0001) QOLIE-31: the higher the score, the better the perceived quality of life. BDI-II: the higher the score, the worse the number of reported depressive symptoms.
None
Figure 3 Scatterplot of the correlation of health-related quality of life (Quality of Life in Epilepsy [QOLIE-31]) with seizure count (r = −0.19, p = 0.21) QOLIE-31: the higher the score, the better the perceived quality of life.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. LaFrance WC Jr, Devinsky O. The treatment of nonepileptic seizures: historical perspectives and future directions. Epilepsia 2004;45(suppl 2):15–21. - PubMed
    1. LaFrance WC Jr, Barry JJ. Update on treatments of psychological nonepileptic seizures. Epilepsy Behav 2005;7:364–374. - PubMed
    1. Oto M, Espie C, Pelosi A, Selkirk M, Duncan R. The safety of antiepileptic drug withdrawal in patients with non-epileptic seizures. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2005;76:1682–1685. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Niedermeyer E, Blumer D, Holscher E, Walker BA. Classical hysterical seizures facilitated by anticonvulsant toxicity. Psychiatr Clin (Basel) 1970;3:71–84. - PubMed
    1. LaFrance WC Jr, Devinsky O. Treatment of nonepileptic seizures. Epilepsy Behav 2002;3(5 suppl 1):S19–S23. - PubMed

Publication types