Factors Associated With Anxiety and Depression in Persons With Epilepsy (PWE).

Abstract

Epilepsy is a common neurological disease that is associated with increased morbidity and mortalityglobally. Persons withepilepsy(PWE) experience a heavy emotional burden mainly due to social stigmatization and limited opportunities in life. The purposeof this study was to explore factors associated with anxiety and depression in PWE. In the present cross-sectional study, we enrolled 100 PWE who visited outpatient settings in a public hospital for scheduled follow-up. Data collection was carried out bythe completion of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), which included participants' characteristics.The statistical significance level wasp< 0.05. Of the 100 participants, the majority were women (65%),below 50 years old (62%), and single (40%). In terms of mental comorbidity, 58% and 48% experienced anxiety and depression, respectively. A statistically significant association was observed between anxiety and age (p = 0.002). Furthermore, a statistically significant association was observed between depression and gender (p = 0.044), age (p = 0.001), marital status (p = 0.036), educational level (p = 0.003), job (p = 0.025), residency (p = 0.041), and whether they went out at night (p = 0.009). Identifying factors associated withanxietyanddepressionis essential for PWE to receive appropriate support.