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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Jun;34(2):598-636.
doi: 10.1007/s11065-023-09600-8. Epub 2023 Jul 25.

Mathematics Skills in Epilepsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Belinda J Poole  1 , Natalie L Phillips  1 , Brittany L Killer  1 , Camilla Gilmore  2 , Suncica Lah  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Mathematics Skills in Epilepsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Belinda J Poole et al. Neuropsychol Rev. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Mathematics incorporates a broad range of skills, which includes basic early numeracy skills, such as subitizing and basic counting to more advanced secondary skills including mathematics calculation and reasoning. The aim of this review was to undertake a detailed investigation of the severity and pattern of early numeracy and secondary mathematics skills in people with epilepsy. Searches were guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Twenty adult studies and 67 child studies were included in this review. Overall, meta-analyses revealed significant moderate impairments across all mathematics outcomes in both adults (g= -0.676), and children (g= -0.593) with epilepsy. Deficits were also observed for specific mathematics outcomes. For adults, impairments were found for mathematics reasoning (g= -0.736). However, two studies found that mathematics calculation was not significantly impaired, and an insufficient number of studies examined early numeracy skills in adults. In children with epilepsy, significant impairments were observed for each mathematics outcome: early numeracy (g= -0.383), calculation (g= -0.762), and reasoning (g= -0.572). The gravity of impairments also differed according to the site of seizure focus for children and adults, suggesting that mathematics outcomes were differentially vulnerable to the location of seizure focus.

Keywords: Academics; Epilepsy; Mathematics; Numeracy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Classification of mathematical outcomes included as subgroups in meta-analysis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
PRISMA flow diagram of study searches and selection process
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of individual and pooled adult Genetic Generalized Epilepsy (GGE) effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval for mathematics reasoning outcomes
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of individual and pooled adult epilepsy effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval across all combined mathematics outcomes
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Forest plot of individual and pooled adult Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE; including left, right or combined unilateral TLE) effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval across all combined mathematics outcomes
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Forest plot of individual and pooled child epilepsy effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval across all combined mathematics outcomes
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Forest plot of individual and pooled child Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval across all combined mathematics outcomes
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Forest plot of individual and pooled child Frontal Lobe Epilepsy (FLE) effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval across all combined mathematics outcomes
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Forest plot of individual and pooled child Extra-Temporal Lobe/ Frontal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE/FLE) effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval across all combined mathematical outcomes
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Forest plot of individual and pooled child Generalized Genetic Epilepsy (GGE) epilepsy effect sizes (Hedges’s g) with 95% confidence interval across all combined mathematics outcomes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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