title: Exploring psychiatric comorbidities and their effects on quality of life in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The relation of epilepsy with psychiatric disorders is of great interest to researchers due to its behavioral, social, and cognitive outcomes. In this study, we explored psychiatric comorbidity and its effects on quality of life (QOL) in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty patients with MTLE, 30 patients with JME, and 30 healthy controls underwent the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I) to diagnose psychiatric disorders. None of the subjects had previously undergone psychiatric examination. The Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-89 (QOLIE-89) was used to assess QOL. We compared psychiatric comorbidity among groups and evaluated its effects on QOL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We detected comorbid psychiatric disorders in 37% of patients with JME and in 57% of patients with MTLE. Comorbid psychiatric disorders were less frequent in healthy controls compared to the patient groups (P = 0.029). Comparing demographic and clinical features of patients with JME and MTLE and their mean QOL scores, there was no statistical difference. Furthermore, we compared QOLIE scores between patients with and without psychiatric comorbidity. JME patients with mood disorders had lower scores on the Attention/Concentration subscale (P = 0.013). MTLE patients with a psychotic disorder had lower scores on the Social Isolation, Energy, and Fatigue subscales (P = 0.045). Patients with somatoform disorders had higher Pain scores (P = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that comorbid psychiatric disorders negatively affect patients' QOL regardless of seizure syndrome. Comorbid psychiatric conditions should be determined to increase QOL in patients with epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Devrimsel H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Ertem
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bakırköy Research and Training Hospital for Neurologic and Psychiatric Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayten C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Dirican
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Bakırköy Research and Training Hospital for Neurologic and Psychiatric Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Agah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bakırköy Research and Training Hospital for Neurologic and Psychiatric Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sevim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baybas
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bakırköy Research and Training Hospital for Neurologic and Psychiatric Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sözmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bakırköy Research and Training Hospital for Neurologic and Psychiatric Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Musa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bakırköy Research and Training Hospital for Neurologic and Psychiatric Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yavuz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Altunkaynak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020190:Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: juvenile myoclonic epilepsy; mesial temporal sclerosis; psychiatric comorbidity; psychiatric symptoms; quality of life