Study: Many Epilepsy Patients Who Fail to Take Medications Experience Depression

According to a new study, many patients who fail to take their antiseizure medications are suffering from depression — the first research to show a direct link between depression and medication nonadherence. Missing even one dose of an antiepileptic drug can cause breakthrough seizures, even in patients whose epilepsy is well controlled by medications. Yet studies have shown that 30 to 50 percent of people with epilepsy do not adhere to their medication regimen. For this study, researchers accessed a nationwide health plan/pharmacy database, and selected a sample of 10,000 epilepsy patients, 2,750 of whom were randomly selected and mailed an in-depth survey that included a number of validated questionnaires on medication adherence, depression status, seizure severity and frequency, and quality of life. The researchers then conducted a path analysis to determine the relationships between depression, drug adherence, seizure severity and quality of life. One key finding was that depression was significantly correlated with an elevated risk of antiepileptic drug nonadherence. Depression was also associated with low quality of life scores. In addition, those patients with depression were more likely to report having more severe seizures. The study will be published in the July 2014 issue of Epilepsy & Behavior; it is available online ahead of publication. To learn more about the study, click here.