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Effects of a Broad‐spectrum Behavioral Medicine Treatment Program on Children with Refractory Epileptic Seizures: An 8‐Year Follow‐Up
Author(s) -
Dahl JoAnne,
Brorson LarsOlov,
Melin Lennart
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1992.tb02289.x
Subject(s) - refractory (planetary science) , epilepsy , pediatrics , medicine , broad spectrum , treatment and control groups , psychology , psychiatry , chemistry , physics , astrobiology , combinatorial chemistry
Summary: We present an 8 year follow‐up on a group of children with refractory epileptic seizures who participated in the early 1980s in a controlled group study on the effects of a broad‐spectrum behavior modification treatment program on children with refractory epileptic seizures. In the original study, 18 children were divided into three groups: behavior modification group, attention control group, and control group. The purpose was to investigate the effects of a learning‐based treatment program superimposed on a regular medical treatment program. Also, the effects of professional attention were evaluated. At the 10 week and 1 year follow‐ups, only the group receiving the behavior modification intervention had a significantly reduced rate of seizure index. The present study investigates these same children 8 years later using the same methods of investigation for an additional 10 week period. The results indicate that a significant reduction in seizures was obtained only for the behavior modification group at the 8 year follow‐up.