Social consequences of epilepsy: A study of 231 Nigerian patients

Nuhu, Folorunsho Tajudeen; Fawole, Joseph Oluyinka; Babalola, Obafemi; Ayilara, Olaniyi; Sulaiman, Zainab Titilope

doi:10.4103/1596-3519.68360

Cited by 28 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…PWE have a higher risk than the general population of suffering depression, not just after but also before the onset of epilepsy. [30,31] The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms of 25% each in this study is similar to findings by Allgower et al [32] Inability to find (or loss of) job as a result of epilepsy [17] and the attendant failure to meet role obligations expected of an adult may be contributory factors to the development of emotional distress in our subjects. Although there are more males among our subjects, the females had higher percentages of depressive and anxiety symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…[6] In addition, PWE live constantly with the stress of a highly stigmatizing chronic illness. [17] The predictors of emotional distress in PWE include gender, duration of the disease, uncontrolled seizures, poly-pharmacy, felt stigma, [4,11,18,19] lack of social support, unemployment, and the attendant worrying. [20] The previous studies of epilepsy and emotional distress in Nigeria were conducted in the Southern part of the country.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patients with frequent seizures are also more likely to be stigmatized. [17] It is also possible that frequent seizure would be interpreted as a sign of impending death. One or more of these factors may explain higher prevalence of emotional symptoms in PWE, which is particularly significant for depression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotional distress among people with epilepsy in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria

Nuhu

Yusuf

Lasisi

et al. 2013

Ann Trop Med Public Health

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Background: Epilepsy is associated with significant psychiatric morbidities. However, little is known about epilepsy and emotional distress in northern Nigeria. Aim: To assess the prevalence and determinants of emotional distress among people with epilepsy (PWE) in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. Settings and Design: This crosssectional study was conducted between January, 2011 and June, 2011. Materials and Methods: We administered the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale as well as the Oslo 3-Items Social Support Scale to 209 consecutive PWE of at least 1 year duration attending the outpatient clinic of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna in order to measure their levels of anxiety and depression, and social support. The socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the subjects were also recorded. Results: The 209 subjects consisted of 123 (58.7%) males and 86 (41.3%) females with mean age of 28.7 (SD, 12.1) years. Majority have strong social support (56.3%) and less than 6 months seizure-free periods (82.3%). The prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms were 20.2% and 15.4% respectively. Older age, being a female, poor social support and short seizure-free periods were significantly associated with emotional distress (P value < 0.05) while female sex (OR = 2.201, P value = 0.024, 95% CI = 1.108 -4.373) and poor support (OR = 0.361, P value = 0.024, 95% CI = 0.149 -0.875) predicted anxiety and depressive symptoms respectively. Conclusion: Emotional distress is quite common among PWE and should be taken into consideration in the management of patients with this disorder.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotional distress among people with epilepsy in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria

Nuhu

Yusuf

Lasisi

et al. 2013

Ann Trop Med Public Health

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“…One of the most common social problems a patient with epilepsy may experience is stigmatization and this was observed to be prevalent (one-third) in our study population, as was observed in previous studies (13,27). Stigma in epilepsy has been extensively studied (13,21,27) and is known to have several complications (13)(14)(15)(16). In the present study, stigma was associated with impairment in other psychosocial domains like finance and physical and occupational activities, thus supporting previous studies that have found stigma to be a risk factor for additional psychosocial problems (7,21).…”

Section: Psychosocial Problems Of Epilepsy Patientssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…common and are known to elevate the risk of psychopathology as well as that of the occurrence of the other complications of psychosocial dysfunctions described above (3,(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21). Stigma is a psychosocial problem that occurs in patients with epilepsy globally and prevalence rates may be more than 50%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial impairments among adults with epilepsy in a neurology clinic in Nigeria

Tunde-Ayinmode¹,

Abiodun²,

Ajiboye³

et al. 2017

Research Journal of Health Sciences

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Objective: Psychosocial problems unattended to may compromise adequate control of seizures and elevate the risk of psychopathology. We assessed for psychosocial impairments and associated psychopathology in patients with epilepsy, with the hope that findings will help initiate formal psychosocial care for patients attending the neurology clinic.Methods: Consecutive patients with epilepsy seen at the neurology clinic that met the inclusion criteria and gave consent were interviewed in a 2 stage procedure. In the first stage patients were assessed with a semi-structured questionnaire containing psychosocial variables while probable psychiatric morbidity was assessed with General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). In the second stage psychiatric diagnoses were assessed with Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN). Results:Many of the patients reported difficulties in at least one or more of the psychosocial domains assessed; areas of difficulty included: physical activity (52.4%), occupational activity (46.8%); finances (41.3%); stigma (33.3%); inadequate social support by relatives (31.7%), and perceived inadequate general adjustment (34.9%). Psychosocial factors significantly associated with increased rate of psychopathology included: being a woman, having low education; financial difficulties and limitations in physical activities while significant clinical factors included: having frequent fits and partial epilepsy. Multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that being a woman and having partial seizures were the most important predictors of psychopathology among the patients. Conclusion:This study has provided evidence of the need to introduce routine psychosocial care in our neurology clinic which hitherto did not carry out structured routine assessment of psychosocial problems in order to reduce risk of psychopathology. Keywords Conclusion:Cette étude a démontré la nécessité d'introduire des soins psychosociaux systématiques dans notre clinique de neurologie qui n'a pas effectué jusqu'à présent d'évaluation routinière structurée des problèmes psychosociaux afin de réduire le risque de psychopathologie.

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