title: Behavioral comorbidity in children and adolescents with epilepsy.
abstract: This cross sectional study assessed the prevalence of behavioral comorbidity and its association with epilepsy-related factors in children and adolescents with epilepsy. One hundred consecutive patients with active epilepsy, aged 6-16 years, were screened for behavioral comorbidity using the Child Behavior Checklist and those who qualified as having behavioral comorbidity were compared with those who did not have it. Behavioral comorbidity was found in 43 of 100 participants. Being treated with antiepileptic drug polytherapy (odds ratio 6.3, 95% confidence interval 1.4-17.3, p=0.01) independently predicted behavioral comorbidity in the patients studied. The demonstrated high frequency of behavioral comorbidity in children with epilepsy suggests that pediatricians and pediatric neurologists should be sensitive to this fact in order to identify and manage behavioral comorbidity in children with epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar East, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India; Department of Pediatrics, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choudhary
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar East, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India. Electronic address: sheffaligulati@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sheffali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gulati
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sagar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar East, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Madhulika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kabra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar East, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Savita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sapra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013332:Student Dropouts; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: Antiepileptic drugs; Behavioral comorbidity; Child behavior checklist; Epilepsy