Characterising people with focal drug-resistant epilepsy: A retrospective cohort study.
Epilepsy Behav
; 149: 109540, 2023 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38006844
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To describe the demographics, clinical characteristics, drug treatment outcomes, healthcare resource utilization, and injuries among people with focal drug-resistant epilepsy (F-DRE) analysed separately for six European countries.METHODS:
We used electronic medical record data from six European (Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, UK and Germany) primary care/specialist care databases to identify antiseizure medication (ASM) treatment-naïve people (aged ≥ 18 years at F-DRE diagnosis). They were followed from their epilepsy diagnosis until death, the date of last record available, or study end. We used descriptive analyses to characterise the F-DRE cohort, and results were reported by country.RESULTS:
One-thousand-seventy individuals with F-DRE were included (mean age 52.5 years; 55.4 % female). The median follow-up time from the first diagnosis to the end of the follow-up was 95.5 months across all countries. The frequency of F-DRE diagnosis in 2021 ranged from 8.8 % in Italy to 18.2 % in Germany. Psychiatric disorders were the most common comorbidity across all countries. Frequently reported psychiatric disorders were depression (26.7 %) and anxiety (11.8 %). The median time from epilepsy diagnosis to the first ASM failure ranged from 5.9 (4.2-10.2) months in France to 12.6 (5.8-20.4) months in Spain. Levetiracetam and lamotrigine were the most commonly used ASM monotherapies in all countries. Consultation with a general practitioner is sought more frequently after F-DRE diagnosis than after epilepsy diagnosis, except in the UK.SIGNIFICANCE:
No one ASM is optimal for all people with F-DRE, and the risks and benefits of the ASM must be considered. Comorbidities must be an integral part of the management strategy and drive the choice of drugs.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Epilepsias Parciais
/
Epilepsia
/
Epilepsia Resistente a Medicamentos
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Epilepsy Behav
Assunto da revista:
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
/
NEUROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Itália