Risk factors of mental disorders in epileptic patients: case-control study

The aim of this study was to analyse the risk factors of mental disorders in epileptic patients. It was a case-control study concerning 200 epileptic out-patients examined in the department of Neurology of Monastir University Hospital during four months. Patients had been divided into two groups: the first (study-group) included 100 epileptic patients with mental disorders compared with a control-group of 100 epileptic patients without mental disorders. General seizures were significantly more frequent in the study-group (78%) than in the control-group (57%) (p=0,001). In the study-group, mental disorders were dominated by the behavioraland character disorders. Existence of temporal focus in electroencephalography or structural abnormality in tomodensitometry was more frequent in epileptic patients with mental disorders. The medium term course of epilepsy was significantly longer in the study-group (15.38 years versus 10?35 years; p=0.00007). Association of antiepileptic agents was significantly more frequent in study-group (38% versus 15%; p= 0,0002). However, no correlations were found between mental disorders and sex, age at onset of epileptic seizures and seizures frequency. The results of our study suggest that epilepsy characteristics and anti-epileptic treatment seem to be the principal factors of mental disorders in epileptic patients.