Abstract
BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is the commonest neurological disorder encountered in Sub-Saharan Africa. The quality of life of patients with epilepsy (PWEs) is adversely affected by cognitive impairments. AIM: This study investigated the prevalence and pattern of cognitive impairments in PWE in Ukpo community located in a South-Eastern state in Nigeria using Community Screening Interview for Dementia (CSID) and a computer-assisted cognitive test battery (FePsy). METHODS AND PATIENTS: Fifty-one PWEs were studied and compared with 51 age-, sex-and level of education-matched healthy controls. Diagnosis of epilepsy was confirmed clinically with eye-witness corroboration. Sociodemographic data and information on epilepsy variables were obtained with the aid of a questionnaire. Cognitive domains assessed include language, memory, orientation, attention, psychomotor speed and constructional praxis. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of cognitive impairment using total CSID score was 19.6%. Analysis of CSID scores revealed significant impairment in language (17.6%), memory (29.4%), orientation (15.7%), attention (7.8%) and constructional praxis (15.7%) compared to healthy controls. A similar pattern was observed with FePsy but with better sensitivity indices for detecting cognitive impairment. CONCLUSION: This study indicated significant prevalence rate of cognitive impairment among treatment-naive PWE with profound affectation of memory, mental speed and language. In addition, the FePsy was found to be more sensitive and specific in assessment of cognitive function in PWE.
Copyright
Association for Helping Neurosurgical Sick People. This is an open
access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Derivative-Non Commercial License, permitting
copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given
appropriate credit.
Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or
adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
)
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which
permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial
purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of
adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original
work is properly cited.
