TY - JOUR
T1 - Seizures in the elderly
T2 - Impact on mental status, mood, and sleep
AU - Haut, Sheryl R.
AU - Katz, Mindy
AU - Masur, Jonathan
AU - Lipton, Richard B.
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr. S.R. Haut serves on the Speaker’s Bureau of UCB Pharma and the advisory boards of UCB Pharma and Abbott. She has served as a paid consultant for King, Jazz, and Genactis. Dr. R.B. Lipton has served as a paid consultant for, and received grant support from, Pfizer and Endo. None of the other authors have any conflicts of interest to disclose.
Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge funding support by NIH P01 AG03949 (PI: Dr. Lipton), NIH K23 NS02192 (PI: Dr. Haut), and an unrestricted grant from Pfizer (PI: Dr. Haut).
PY - 2009/3
Y1 - 2009/3
N2 - Comorbidities of epilepsy have not been well explored in the elderly. Herein, we examined mental status, mood, and sleep in elderly patients with epilepsy, compared with age- and gender-matched community controls without epilepsy from the Einstein Aging Study. Testing included a mental status test, the Blessed Information Memory and Concentration (BIMC) test; Prime-MD Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) Depression and Anxiety Modules; and Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale. Persons with epilepsy (n = 31) had higher mean BIMC scores than controls (n = 31, BIMC 6.3 vs.1.2, P < 0.0001). Mean PHQ Depression scores were higher for cases than controls, indicating more depressive symptoms (4.2 vs 0.8, P = 0.006); six cases (18%) and no controls met screening criteria for depression. Mean PHQ Anxiety scores were also higher for cases than controls (3.7 vs 0.0, P = 0.001). Cases had poorer sleep scores in the categories of somnolence (P = 0.009) and shortness of breath/headache (P = 0.021). Thus, comorbidities of epilepsy in this elderly population included decreased mental status, a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety, and poorer sleep health when compared with agemates without epilepsy. Mental status impairment was not related to antiepileptic medication or mood disturbance. Further investigation will explore these associations prospectively.
AB - Comorbidities of epilepsy have not been well explored in the elderly. Herein, we examined mental status, mood, and sleep in elderly patients with epilepsy, compared with age- and gender-matched community controls without epilepsy from the Einstein Aging Study. Testing included a mental status test, the Blessed Information Memory and Concentration (BIMC) test; Prime-MD Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) Depression and Anxiety Modules; and Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale. Persons with epilepsy (n = 31) had higher mean BIMC scores than controls (n = 31, BIMC 6.3 vs.1.2, P < 0.0001). Mean PHQ Depression scores were higher for cases than controls, indicating more depressive symptoms (4.2 vs 0.8, P = 0.006); six cases (18%) and no controls met screening criteria for depression. Mean PHQ Anxiety scores were also higher for cases than controls (3.7 vs 0.0, P = 0.001). Cases had poorer sleep scores in the categories of somnolence (P = 0.009) and shortness of breath/headache (P = 0.021). Thus, comorbidities of epilepsy in this elderly population included decreased mental status, a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety, and poorer sleep health when compared with agemates without epilepsy. Mental status impairment was not related to antiepileptic medication or mood disturbance. Further investigation will explore these associations prospectively.
KW - Cognitive decline
KW - Depression
KW - Elderly
KW - Epilepsy
KW - Epilepsy comorbidity
KW - Sleep disturbance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=63049097976&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=63049097976&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.01.005
DO - 10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.01.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 19189862
AN - SCOPUS:63049097976
SN - 1525-5050
VL - 14
SP - 540
EP - 544
JO - Epilepsy and Behavior
JF - Epilepsy and Behavior
IS - 3
ER -