Caregiver burden and its predictors in adult epilepsy patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate caregiver burden and factors associated with caregiver burden in caregivers of adults with epilepsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 107 patients with epilepsy and 107 their primary caregivers. Personal information form including sociodemographic data and Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory (ZBI), were used for caregivers, and patient information form, Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Epilepsy Quality of Life Scale (QoLIE-31) and Stigma Scale were used for patients. RESULTS: Caregiver burden was found to be related to gender (p = 0.047), marital status (p = 0.008), income (p = 0.003), education level (p = 0.05) age at onset of epilepsy (p = 0.025) and type of therapy (p = 0.005). The scale scores for cognitive functions (p < 0.001), stigma (p < 0.001), anxiety (p = 0.001), depression (p = 0.005), and quality of life (p < 0.001) of the patient showed significant correlations with caregiver burden. In addition, caregiver burden was found to correlate with some caregiver characteristics such as caregivers' age (p = 0.041), gender (p < 0.001), education (p < 0.001), income (p = 0.001) and relationship with the patient (p = 0.016). Time spent on caregiving per day was also positively correlated with caregiving burden (p < 0.001). In regression analysis, the gender of the caregiver, the gender of the patient, the stigma level of patient, and the type of treatment were found to be predictors of care burden (p < 0.05, R2 = 0.61). CONCLUSION: It was found that two-thirds of the families of patients with epilepsy experienced varying degrees of caregiver burden. In addition, it was determined that caregiver burden was associated with sociodemographic and numerous psychosocial factors of the patient as well as the caregiver. It is important that both the caregiver and the patient being cared for are closely evaluated in interventions to reduce the caregiver burden in patients with epilepsy.

Olfactory function assessment of migraine patients by using the Sniffin' sticks test: A clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: This as a cross-sectional controlled clinical study. We hypothesis that the olfactory functions in migraine patients may differ from the healthy controls. In this study, we evaluated the olfactory functions by using a Sniffin' Sticks test battery, which is a reliable and semi quantitative test to evaluate for olfactory dysfunction. METHODS: Patients above 18 years of age who had migraine received a definitive diagnosis of migraine from experienced headache specialists based on the criteria of The International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 were included. Odor threshold, discrimination, and identification parameters were assessed using the "Sniffin' Sticks" test. RESULTS: One-hundred and one migraine patients (age [mean ± SD], 36.9 ± 10.4 years; range, 18-60 years) and sixty healthy volunteers (age 34.5 ± 13.2 years, range 18-65 years) participated in our study. The median odor threshold score [percentiles 25th-75th] was 8.3 [6.5-9.8] for the migraine group during attack free period and 4.5[3.6-6.0] for the control group. It was found that the migraine group had a median odor discrimination score of 10.0 [10.0-13.0] and the control group 12.0 [11.0-13.0]. These differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001 and p = 0.032 respectively). The median odor discrimination and identification scores were statistically significant higher for the participants with higher educational level group than in those of lower educational group (p < 0.0001). The median odor discrimination and identification scores of those without allodynia (12.0 [10.0-14.0] and 13.0 [10.0-13.0] respectively) were higher than that of those with allodynia (11.0 [9.0-12.0] and 11.0 [10.0-13.0] respectively) (p = 0.037 and p = 0.034 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: We found that the odor thresholds, discrimination and identification scores of the migraine group demonstrate differences from those of the healthy group and in relation to allodynia.

Assessment of the Olfactory Function in Patients With Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Using the Sniffin' Sticks Test: A Case-Control Study.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the lack of recognition in clinical practice, there is increasing evidence that patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension may suffer from hyposmia. The current case-control study aims to evaluate olfactory dysfunction in a large series of patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. METHODS: All subjects, 44 idiopathic intracranial hypertension patients and 57 healthy controls, underwent olfactory function assessment using standardized "Sniffin' Sticks" test at a tertiary referral center of a university hospital. Threshold, discrimination, identification, and total threshold-discrimination-identification scores have been determined and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension patients had significantly lower threshold (6.5 [3.69] vs 8 [1.88], P < .001, 95% CI [-2.250, -0.750]) and threshold-discrimination-identification scores (29.75 [5.56] vs 32.5 [5.25], P = .003, 95% CI [-4.250, -0.750]). Twenty-five patients (57%) were diagnosed with hyposmia. Test scores of patients with active idiopathic intracranial hypertension (n = 18) were not statistically different from patients with inactive disease (n = 26), except for discrimination score (14 [2.50] vs 11 [2.25], P = .005, 95% CI [-3.000, -1.000]). Although idiopathic intracranial hypertension patients with a cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure of ≥330 mmH2 O had lower test scores, the difference was significant only for total threshold-discrimination-identification scores (28.5 [5.50] vs 30.5 [4.38], P = .044, 95% CI [0.750, 5.500]). Multiple regression analysis revealed that test scores were related to disease activity, cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure, papilledema, headache, and medication. CONCLUSION: Our clinical study revealed significant olfactory dysfunction in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension compared with healthy controls. Future research should employ larger samples to search for usability of olfactory testing in clinical management of patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

Assessment of Blink Reflex in Genetic Generalized Epilepsy Patients With Eyelid Myoclonia.

Eyelid myoclonia (EM) with or without absences are a rare type of generalized seizures associated with a variety of epilepsy syndromes with an unknown pathophysiology. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible contribution of the brainstem structures in this underrecognized special type of seizures. Sixteen consecutive patients with EM, diagnosed with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) according to International League Against Epilepsy 2010 criteria were included. Brainstem excitabilities were examined by blink reflex (BR) studies. The results of BR studies in GGE patients with EM were statistically compared with 2 control groups; namely age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients without any absences and using similar antiepileptic drugs. There were no statistical differences between the thresholds of the BR studies and the BR recovery curves in terms of amplitudes and areas of healthy subjects, JME patients and GGE patients with EM. Our findings do not support a profound interictal hyperexcitability in the BR-related brainstem structures of the GGE patients with EM. It can be considered that EM may be associated with excitability changes of the occipital cortex and other cortical areas.

Assessment of excitability at the brainstem and cortex in primary headaches with allodynia.

PURPOSE: The aims were to assess the excitability of motor cortex and trigeminal structures in patients with primary headaches experiencing allodynia and to investigate the alterations in interictal allodynia and blink reflex excitability after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). METHODS: Patients with strictly lateralized primary headaches were included, and Allodynia Symptom Checklist was used to detect allodynia. Paired transcranial magnetic stimulation and blink reflex recovery studies were performed on both sides. Ten Hertz or sham rTMS was applied on the motor cortex in patients with interictal allodynia. Allodynic symptoms were registered quantitatively, and blink reflex study was repeated after these trials. RESULTS: Seventeen of 34 patients with headache described allodynia. Our findings showed bilateral hyperexcitability of cortical and trigeminal structures in the allodynic group. Interictal allodynia, detected in 13 allodynic patients, improved after rTMS as compared with sham stimulation, and this effect appeared to be more evident in the late period. CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral increases in the cortical and trigeminal excitability were shown in patients with allodynia, and rTMS was effective for reducing clinical allodynia. The authors suggest that allodynic condition of the patients should be taken into account in the planning and evaluation of electrophysiological studies, and rTMS may be considered as a treatment alternative for troublesome allodynia.