title: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures at a tertiary care center in Brazil.
abstract: Although psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are a worldwide phenomenon, most of our knowledge addressing clinical characteristics is based on studies conducted in the USA, Europe, and Australia. There are scarce data about PNES in South American countries. This study provided a detailed analysis of the demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics of 102 Brazilian patients with PNES. Seventy-eight patients (76.4%) were female with mean age of 35.27 years. Mean age at onset was 27.85 years; mean time to diagnosis was 7.89 years; 87.25% lived with their families; 56.89% were single; and only 33 (39.75%) worked on a regular basis. Depression was diagnosed in 48.03%. Thirty-three patients misdiagnosed as having epilepsy were using antiepileptic drugs. Stress factors were identified in 57.84%. This is the first Brazilian study that involves a large sample of patients with video-EEG-documented PNES and corroborates the idea that PNES are a worldwide phenomenon sharing several similarities, despite cultural and socioeconomic differences.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo School of Medicine Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rudá
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alessi
authors.forename: Kette D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Valente
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003291:Conversion Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004777:Environment; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D063128:Tertiary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult