title: Severity of anxiety and depression are related to a higher perception of adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs.
abstract: After reviewing the negative effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on general health and quality of life, the Commission on Outcome Measurement from the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) recommended incorporating reliable and valid tools in clinical essays in order to achieve a more accurate assessment of the subjective adverse effects rate and disease severity when using AEDs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to correlate the severity of adverse effects of AEDs, with the presence of anxiety and depression in patients with epilepsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Spanish version of the Liverpool Adverse Events Profile (LAEP) and the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) were applied on 130 consecutive outpatients with epilepsy from the epilepsy clinic at the Mexico's National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery. A correlation analysis was carried out to determine if the presence of depression and anxiety was related to the adverse effects of AEDs. The relation between LAEP scores with other epidemiological variables was also assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study found a positive correlation between the LAEP and the HADS scores (p < or = 0.01). The most common adverse effects were drowsiness (81.5% [n=106]), difficulty in concentrating (76% [n=99]), and nervousness and/or agitation (75% [n=97]). Female gender, a history of febrile seizures, persistent seizures and polytherapy were associated with a higher toxicity on LAEP. In our study, age at epilepsy onset, duration of epilepsy, type of epilepsy and patients' age were not related to higher LAEP scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adverse effects to AEDs can be related with the presence of psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression in patients with epilepsy.
authors: Clinical Epileptology Fellowship, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, UNAM, México City, Mexico.
authors: Bety
authors: B
authors: Gómez-Arias
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Crail-Meléndez
authors: Rosario
authors: R
authors: López-Zapata
authors: Iris E
authors: IE
authors: Martínez-Juárez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants