title: Motor and cognitive functions in newly diagnosed adult seizure patients before antiepileptic medication.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Motor and cognitive functions in patients with partial or generalized onset of seizures were evaluated prior to the administration of antiepileptic medication.
  
  
  METHODS
  Motor function, attention and memory of 52 consecutive newly diagnosed adult patients with partial or generalized seizures were assessed with neuropsychological tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with partial onset of seizures did not differ from patients with generalized seizures in tests of motor function or attention, nor in tests of learning and memory. Compared to controls patients with epilepsy performed significantly worse on visual motor tasks, mental flexibility and in delayed visual memory. Within the patient group as a whole lower education, higher age and symptomatic epilepsy with more abnormal CT scan findings tended to associate with worse performance in tests of concentration and mental flexibility and tests of memory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings indicate that newly diagnosed adult patients with partial or generalized onset of seizures prior to treatment with antiepileptic medication experience some problems in visual motor tasks, mental flexibility and memory even without the numerous risk factors for cognitive deficits in epilepsy. In newly diagnosed patients with epilepsy as a whole symptomatic etiology was associated with somewhat more pronounced cognitive problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Central Hosptial of Päijät-Häme, Lahti, Finland.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pulliainen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kuikka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jokelainen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003071:Cognition; D004522:Educational Status; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000503:physiopathology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric