PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM EPILEPSY ATTENDING IN OUT PATIENT SETUP IN DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH , TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL
ABSTRACT
Background: Epilepsy is often associated with mental and behavioral problems. Depression is one of the commonest psychiatric morbidity among the patients suffering from epilepsy leading to poorer seizure control and adversely affecting their quality of life.
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to know the frequency of depression in epileptic patients attending outpatient setup in a tertiary level teaching hospital and also to find an association of demographic and clinical variables of epileptic patients with depression.
Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in epileptic patients meeting inclusion criteria after informed consent. Depression was diagnosed using semi structured proforma and ICD-10 DCR criteria. BDI was used as subjective rating scale. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16, and analysis carried out using descriptive statistics.
Result: Out of total 68 patients, 58.8% were male 54.4% were single and 26.5% were students. Out of total, 79.4% were from rural area. About 37% cases were having depression. Male patients, younger age, having generalized epilepsy were more associated with depression.
Conclusion: Depression was found to be highly prevalent psychiatric comorbidity amongthe patients with epilepsy. Patients of younger age group men and having generalized epilepsy were more prone to have depression. The study emphasized need of proper workup including the proper history taking and mental state examination for overall management of problem along with treatment of seizure.
Author's Name: Dr. Ananta Adhikari