Elderly people and epilepsy: cognitive function.
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.
Piazzini
Ada
A
Epilepsy Center, San Paolo Hospital, Milan, Italy. ada.piazzini@ao-sanpaolo.it
Canevini
Maria Paola
MP
Turner
Katherine
K
Chifari
Rosanna
R
Canger
Raffaele
R
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