Epilepsy and psychopathology in children and adolescents

Abstract

A group of 20 children and adolescents hospitalized and treated at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Osijek University Hospital Center for epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidities were included in the study. The aim of the study was to investigate psychiatric comorbidity and cognitive characteristics of children with epilepsy and compare them according to gender. Diagnoses were based on the current ICD-10 classification criteria, whereas the following standardized psychological tests were used to determine cognitive characteristics of patients: Colored Progressive Matrices, Standard Progressive Matrices, Cognitive Nonverbal Test, Bender Motor Gestalt Test, Revised Beta Test, and Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Study results showed hyperkinetic disorder alone or in combination with conduct disorder to be the most common comorbidity in boys. On the other hand, the most common comorbidity diagnosed in girls was depressive disorder and anxiety disorder alone or combined with primary nocturnal enuresis. According to the results of psychological testing, most girls had average intellectual abilities; 69.23% of them showed signs of disorders of visuomotor coordination, whereas 61.54% showed signs of short-term memory impairment. Unlike girls, most boys (57.14%) had either borderline or subnormal intellectual abilities. All boys showed signs of disorders of visuomotor coordination and signs of short-term memory impairment. Early identification and treatment of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses are important components in determining optimal and comprehensive treatment of children with epilepsy.