Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on epilepsy practice in India: A tripartite survey

Rathore, Chaturbhuj; Baheti, Neeraj N; Bansal, Atma Ram; Jabeen, Shaik Afshan; Gopinath, Siby; Jagtap, Sujit; Patil, Sandeep B.; Turaga, Suryaprabha; Jayalakshmi, Sita; Ravat, Sangeeta; Nayak, Dinesh; Prakash, Sanjay; Rana, Kaushik; Jaiswal, Shyam K; Khan, Fayaz; Murthy, J. M. K.; Radhakrishnan, Kurupath

doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2020.12.025

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Despite some recent literature, it is still unclear whether epilepsy is an independent risk factor for both incidence and mortality of COVID-19 [55] . Overall, our data suggest excluding epilepsy from risk factor of developing severe COVID-19, accordingly with other studies conducted in different populations [56] , [57] . However, it is important to continue monitoring this fragile population and patients who have recovered from COVID-19.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Long-term analysis of the effects of COVID-19 in people with epilepsy: Results from a multicenter on-line survey across the pandemic waves

Parodi

Viganò

Ottaviano

et al. 2022

Epilepsy & Behavior

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Long-term analysis of the effects of COVID-19 in people with epilepsy: Results from a multicenter on-line survey across the pandemic waves

Parodi

Viganò

Ottaviano

et al. 2022

Epilepsy & Behavior

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“…Third, although we investigated several social factors such as living situation, work change, occupation, and income change, other potentially influential variables, such as travel patterns, physical activity levels, and use of social network services, were not incorporated. In this regard, we have not investigated clinical epilepsy practice changes during the pandemic or the use of telemedicine, which has become widely used since 2020 [ 33 , 34 ]. Lastly, although we did not use data for seizure frequency reduction following medication change, we could not remove the indirect or remote medication effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A longitudinal seizure outcome following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021: Transient exacerbation or sustainable mitigation

Neshige

Aoki

Takebayashi

et al. 2022

Journal of the Neurological Sciences

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Objective To study the longitudinal seizure outcomes of people with epilepsy (PWE) following the acute and chronic phases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods Consecutive PWE who were treated at the epilepsy center of Hiroshima University Hospital between 2018 and 2021 were enrolled. We evaluated the incidence of seizure frequency increase or decrease following the pandemic during observational periods in 2020 and 2021. Data between 2018 and 2019 were used as a control set. The sustainability of the altered seizure frequency condition was evaluated throughout the study period. We analyzed the clinical, psychological, and social factors associated with PWE with seizure exacerbation or amelioration. Results Among the 223 PWE who were evaluated (mean age 37.8 ± 16.3 years), seizure frequency increased for 40 (16.8%) and decreased for 34 (15.2%) after the pandemic began. While seizure exacerbation tended to be a transient episode during 2020, seizure amelioration was likely to maintain excellent status over the observation periods; the sustainability of the altered seizure frequency condition was more prominent for amelioration than exacerbation ( p < 0.001). Seizure exacerbation was significantly associated with “no housemate” (odds ratio [OR] 3.37; p = 0.045) and “comorbidity of insomnia” (OR 5.80; p = 0.004). Conversely, “structural abnormality of MRI” (OR 2.57; p = 0.039) and “two-generation householding” (OR 3.70; p = 0.004) were independently associated with seizure amelioration. Conclusion This longitudinal observation confirmed that seizure exacerbation and amelioration emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the stark difference that social support systems can make on outcomes for PWE.

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“…The suppressive impact of the pandemic on epilepsy surgery has been reported similar to our results, in some studies. 17 , 19 The reason might be that elective surgeries, which are preferentially postponed during the COVID‐19 pandemic, comprise the majority of epilepsy surgeries. Another reason could be that many cases of epilepsy surgery require presurgical evaluations such as outpatient EEG or EEG monitoring, which were also reduced during the COVID‐19 pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the number of COVID‐19 patients admitted to a hospital directly restricts their epilepsy care. 17 Another lacking covariate in this analysis was geographical variations in epilepsy care and telemedicine access during the study period. The availability and benefits of telemedicine depend on geographical variations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on epilepsy care in Japan: A national‐level multicenter retrospective cohort study

et al. 2022

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Objective The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic on epilepsy care across Japan was investigated by conducting a multicenter retrospective cohort study. Methods This study included monthly data on the frequency of (1) visits by outpatients with epilepsy, (2) outpatient electroencephalography (EEG) studies, (3) telemedicine for epilepsy, (4) admissions for epilepsy, (5) EEG monitoring, and (6) epilepsy surgery in epilepsy centers and clinics across Japan between January 2019 and December 2020. We defined the primary outcome as epilepsy center‐specific monthly data divided by the 12‐month average in 2019 for each facility. We determined whether the COVID‐19 pandemic‐related factors (such as year [2019 or 2020], COVID‐19 cases in each prefecture in the previous month, and a state of emergency) were independently associated with these outcomes. Results In 2020, the frequency of outpatient EEG studies (−10.7%, P < .001) and cases with telemedicine (+2608%, P = .031) were affected. The number of COVID‐19 cases was an independent associated factor for epilepsy admission (−3.75 × 10 −3 % per case, P < .001) and EEG monitoring (−3.81 × 10 −3 % per case, P = .004). Furthermore, a state of emergency was an independent factor associated with outpatient with epilepsy (−11.9%, P < .001), outpatient EEG (−32.3%, P < .001), telemedicine for epilepsy (+12,915%, P < .001), epilepsy admissions (−35.3%; P < .001), EEG monitoring (−24.7%: P < .001), and epilepsy surgery (−50.3%, P < .001). Significance We demonstrated the significant impact that the COVID‐19 pandemic had on epilepsy care. These results support those of previous studies and clarify the effect size of each pandemic‐related factor on epilepsy care.

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Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on epilepsy practice in India: A tripartite survey

Cited by 17 publications

References 16 publications

Long-term analysis of the effects of COVID-19 in people with epilepsy: Results from a multicenter on-line survey across the pandemic waves

Long-term analysis of the effects of COVID-19 in people with epilepsy: Results from a multicenter on-line survey across the pandemic waves

A longitudinal seizure outcome following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021: Transient exacerbation or sustainable mitigation

Impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on epilepsy care in Japan: A national‐level multicenter retrospective cohort study

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