Premium
Association between seizure frequency and fatigue levels in children with epilepsy
Author(s) -
Kanemura Hideaki,
Sano Fumikazu,
Ohyama Tetsuo,
Sugita Kanji,
Aihara Masao
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.14077
Subject(s) - epilepsy , medicine , association (psychology) , pediatrics , audiology , anesthesia , psychiatry , psychology , psychotherapist
Aim The purpose of this study was to examine the association between seizure‐related features and fatigue levels in children with epilepsy. Methods All children were classified into three subgroups based on the state of their seizure control: well‐controlled epilepsy (WCE; seizure‐free), intermediate‐controlled epilepsy (ICE; seizure frequency < 1×/month) and uncontrolled epilepsy (UCE; seizure frequency > 1×/month). Participants were asked to rate on a 7‐point scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), how often they felt the ways described by nine items on the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). A higher score is suggestive of greater fatigue. Results The study participants comprised 58 children with epilepsy and 15 children without seizures, who served as the healthy (non‐epilepsy) group. The mean FSS scores of the children with epilepsy were significantly higher than those of the healthy (non‐epilepsy) group (4.40 vs. 1.55, respectively; P < 0.0001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that seizure frequency was the only characteristic significantly associated with fatigue ( P < 0.0001). In the three epilepsy subgroups, the mean FSS scores for the WCE, intermediate‐controlled epilepsy and UCE groups were 2.30, 3.97 and 6.28, respectively. A higher seizure frequency was associated with more severe fatigue. In particular, children in the UCE group had significantly more severe fatigue than those in the WCE group ( P < 0.0001). Conclusions The results suggest that seizure frequency is also associated with fatigue in children with epilepsy. Improved control of seizures may help reduce fatigue levels and improve the quality of life of children with epilepsy.