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Seizures During Video‐Game Play and Other Common Leisure Pursuits in Known Epilepsy Patients Without Visual Sensitivity
Author(s) -
Millett C. J.,
Fish D. R.,
Thompson P. J.,
Johnson A.
Publication year - 1999
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.1528-1157.1999.tb00908.x
Subject(s) - video game , epilepsy , psychology , population , audiology , electroencephalography , medicine , psychiatry , multimedia , environmental health , computer science
Summary: Purpose: Some individuals who are negative to flash/pattern sensitivity have been reported to experience seizures while exposed to video games. This study seeks to examine systematically whether exposure to video‐game material is a risk factor for seizures in patients with chronic epilepsy without visual sensitivity. Methods: Two hundred and twelve chronic epilepsy patients participated in the study. All were negative to rigorous flash and pattern sensitivity testing. They were randomly allocated to a video game‐playing session or to a period of leisure (involving reading, physical exercise, puzzles, etc.) and then alternated between these activities for a fixed total of eight 45‐min periods while undergoing video‐EEG monitoring. The study ceased if the participant experienced a clinical seizure. Results: Twenty‐five of 212 subjects experienced a seizure while participating in the study. Thirteen seizures occurred during periods of video‐game play, and 12 during alternative leisure. Conclusions: We have not identified a greater risk of seizures in patients with (not visually sensitive) epilepsy during videogame play compared with other common leisure pursuits. Furthermore, we exposed a large population (212 patients) mostly with severe epilepsy, mainly drug reduced and some sleep deprived, to prolonged video game‐playing without observing a significant excess number of seizures. This finding provides strong support for the hypothesis that seizures during video game play in the >95% of the epilepsy population without visual sensitivity are most likely to represent a chance occurrence, although, as always, each individual should be carefully assessed.