Children and youth with epilepsy would likely benefit from mental health screening, according to the findings of a new study, which revealed that a significant proportion of children and youth with epilepsy that participated in the study had undiagnosed depression and anxiety, as well as unrecognized suicidality. The findings were presented at the American Epilepsy Society virtual meeting, AES2020.

“Compared to other studies, the percentage of children, adolescents and teens that screened positive for these mental health issues was quite a bit higher than expected,” said lead study author Anjali Dagar, MD, clinical research fellow at Cleveland Clinic, in a press release.²

“Although this is a screening – meaning the diagnosis must be confirmed by a psychiatrist – our findings suggest it is important to screen all youths with epilepsy for underlying psychiatric issues even when there are no signs of concern,” Dr Dagar added.²

Researchers arrived at their conclusion after assessing children and youth with epilepsy (N = 119) without an established psychiatric diagnosis who had attended an epilepsy clinic or had received testing in the pediatric epilepsy monitoring unit. The following self-reported, validated scales for screening and diagnosis of depression, anxiety, and suicidality were completed by participants:

• Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC)
• Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED)
• Ask Suicide‐Screening Questions (ASQ)

The results of the study indicated that 30.2% of children and youth with epilepsy screened positive for anxiety on SCARED, and 41.2% screened positive for depression on CES-DC. Approximately 10.9% of participants screened positive for suicidality after providing one or more positive responses on ASQ.

“The suicide tool revealed unrecognized suicidality in more than one of 10 youths with epilepsy, which is significant,” said study author Tatiana Falcone, MD, child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center, in a press release.²

“Suicidality is a life-threatening condition that can exist even in the absence of a pre-existing diagnosis of depression or anxiety, so it’s important all children, adolescents, and teens with epilepsy get screened for all three mental health issues,” Dr Falcone added.²

The authors of the study aim to replicate their findings in a larger, diversified cohort of children and youth with epilepsy.

—Christina Vogt

References:

1. Dagar A, Prestana-Knight E, Timmons-Mitchell E, Tossone K, Zemba D, Falcone T. #913294 Screening for suicidality and it’s relation to undiagnosed psychiatric co-morbidities in children and youth with epilepsy. Paper presented at: American Epilepsy Society AES 2020; December 4-8, 2020; Virtual.
2. All youths with epilepsy would benefit from mental health screening. News release. American Epilepsy Society. December 4, 2020. Accessed December 4, 2020.