title: Depression symptoms as a function of duration of intractable or controlled epilepsy.
abstract: We examined if depression symptoms in patients with intractable (IE) or controlled epilepsy (CE) differ and how long after onset of epilepsy these effects would be most pronounced. The NDDI-E was administered to all outpatients (n=358) seen in a comprehensive epilepsy program clinic over a two-year period. Patients who met inclusion criteria (n=223) completed a total of 431 NDDI-E surveys over this time. Patients with a diagnosis of IE (n=72) or CE (n=151) were compared as a function of time since their epilepsy onset, segmented into 10-year epochs. Depression symptoms were higher in patients with IE compared to CE at 10-<20 years and did not differ at other time points. This study reveals differences in depression symptoms as a function of duration of epilepsy. Attending to the dynamic nature of depression symptoms in different epochs of epilepsy may be an important treatment target in patients with epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI 02903, USA. william_lafrance_jr@brown.edu
authors.forename: W Curt
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: LaFrance
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lancman
authors.forename: Jason T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Machan
authors.forename: Jennifer D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Blum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales