Antiepileptic drugs, occurrence of seizures and effect of co-administration of potential seizure threshold-lowering psychotropic drugs in adults with intellectual disability who have epilepsy.

Abstract

This study explored antiepileptic drug use, frequency of seizures, and the effect of psychotropic drugs with the potential to lower the seizure threshold in persons diagnosed with epilepsy and intellectual disability. Data for this study were drawn from Wave 3 of the Intellectual Disability Supplement to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (IDS-TILDA). Psychotropic drugs were categorised for potential seizure threshold-lowering risk (low, moderate, high). Binary logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with seizure frequency. Epilepsy prevalence was 35.8% (n=196), of which 57.7% reported a mental health condition. Participants with seizure data classified as taking at least one moderate-/high-risk medication were significantly less likely to experience a seizure compared to participants taking no potential seizure threshold-lowering medication. Psychotropic drugs recommended to be avoided or used with caution did not provoke increased seizure frequency in this cohort.