title: Elderly people and epilepsy: cognitive function.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate cognitive function in a group of elderly patients with focal epilepsy versus healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  A neuropsychological battery assessing major cognitive domains was administered to 40 patients with focal epilepsy aged > or = 60 years, and to 40 controls matched for sex, age, and education.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Epilepsy patients performed significantly worse in most of the administered tests than controls (p < 0.05). Poor cognitive performances correlated with use of polytherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the high prevalence of epilepsy in the elderly, our results could have important implications for clinical and research purposes.
authors.affiliation: Epilepsy Center, San Paolo Hospital, Milan, Italy. ada.piazzini@ao-sanpaolo.it
authors.forename: Ada
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piazzini
authors.forename: Maria Paola
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Canevini
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chifari
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Canger
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D004522:Educational Status; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012044:Regression Analysis