Mental health in children with epilepsy: identification of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental comorbidity

Edelmira Solorio-López, Laboratorio de Farmacología, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Diana L. Pérez-Lozano, Coordinación de Medicina General y Comunitaria, Universidad de la Salud, Campus Santa Fe, Ciudad de México, México
Liliana Carmona-Aparicio, Laboratorio de Farmacología, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Arístides III Sampieri, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad de México, México
Liliana Rivera-Espinosa, Laboratorio de Farmacología, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Elvia Coballase-Urrutia, Laboratorio de Farmacología, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Francisco Jiménez-Trejo, Laboratorio de Morfología Celular y Tisular, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaría de Salud, Ciudad de México, México
Katia L. Jiménez-García, Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, Ciudad de México, México

Introduction: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder with a higher incidence in childhood. Its causes and manifestations are multivariable, and the main psychiatric and neurodevelopmental comorbidity associated with this population are still under investigation. Objective: To determine the association between clinical characteristics and psychiatric and neurodevelopmental comorbidity in pediatric patients with epilepsy at a tertiary care hospital. Method: An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, and analytical study of a cohort of pediatric epileptic patients, in which psychiatric and neurodevelopmental comorbidity were identified from clinical records. Results: A predominance of males (61%) was observed, with focal seizures (67%), symptomatic etiology (63%), ages ranging from 1 day to 16 years, and pharmacological therapy using valproic acid monotherapy (70%). Psychiatric comorbidity was predominant, with depression accounting for 5,1% of cases. For neurodevelopmental disorders, intellectual developmental disorder was the most frequent, at 28,8%. Conclusions: Psychiatric comorbidity (depression, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder), as well as neurodevelopmental disorders (intellectual developmental disorder, specific learning disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder), were predominant in males diagnosed with non-syndromic epilepsy and treated with valproic acid.

Keywords: Epilepsy. Mental disorders. Psychiatric comorbidities. Neurodevelopmental disorders. Antiseizure medications.