Anxiety and depressive disorders associated with epilepsy in women of reproductive age

Abstract

Abstract Background: Mental disorders in people with epilepsy are an old problem that remains crucial nowadays. The specialized literature has reported increasingly significant values of anxiety and depressive disorders associated with epilepsy in women during their child bearing age. The prevalence of depression comorbidity related to epilepsy has accounted for 55% of cases, many of which remain undiagnosed. Anxiety exceeds the frequency of depressive cases by 10-15%, which tends to be milder, however showing a chronic evolution. It is important to find out the correlation between the occurrences of mental disorder in women with epilepsy from the Republic of Moldova. The purpose of the study was to assess the depressive and anxiety symptoms associated with epilepsy in women of reproductive age. Material and methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on a group of 128 women with epilepsy. Patients were divided into 2 groups, with anxiety and depression respectively. Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) was applied for estimating anxiety and depression, being considered a priority compared to Hamilton scales, the Beck Inventory, the Zung scale. Results: It has been proved that the disease duration and seizure recurrence are directly proportional to prevalence of depression and anxiety cases. The type of seizure remains a controversial topic. Conclusions: Anxiety and depression in epilepsy patients show a heterogeneous nature due to clinical pleiomorphism. The HAD scale is effective for the early diagnosis of anxiety and depression in epilepsy women.