overview: Symptoms of phobias and agoraphobia are common in people with epilepsy and reduce quality of life.
sauce: Wake Forest University
About 5.1 million people in the United States have a history of epilepsy and have recurrent seizures. Epilepsy is his fourth most common neurological disorder, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
Current research shows an increase in anxiety and depression among people with epilepsy, but this population and agoraphobia (fear of being in public places, or which can cause panic and embarrassment) Little is known about anxiety disorders involving fear of being in a sexual situation.
However, a recent study by Heidi Munger Clary, M.D., MPH, Associate Professor of Neurology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, found that symptoms of phobias and agoraphobia are common and reduce quality of life for people with epilepsy. has been shown to be associated with
Research is displayed online epilepsy research.
“We know that agoraphobia can lead to delays in patient care due to reluctance to go out in public, including to meet with health care providers,” said the study’s lead investigator. said Munger Clary, “So this is an area that needs more attention in the clinical setting.”
In this study, researchers performed a cross-sectional analysis of baseline clinical data from a neuropsychology registry cohort study. The researchers analyzed a diverse sample of 420 adults with epilepsy from age 18 to age 75, who underwent neuropsychological evaluations over a 14-year period at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.
“Over a third of the participants reported symptoms of severe phobia/agoraphobia,” said Munger Clary. “Symptoms of phobia/agoraphobia, along with symptoms of depression, were independently associated with decreased quality of life, but symptoms of generalized anxiety were not.”
According to Munger Clary, phobia/agoraphobia symptoms are not routinely assessed by clinicians, so the findings are useful for developing more comprehensive screeners for psychiatric comorbidities in epilepsy. may suggest a need for future research in
“Symptoms of agoraphobia don’t exactly overlap with symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression that are often screened for in routine practice,” said Munger Clary.
“Providers may want to consider more robust symptom screening methods to identify and better assist these patients. may be important for improving health equity, given other significant research findings showing that people with severe phobia/agoraphobia are more likely to have symptoms of severe phobia/agoraphobia.”
Funding: This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health under grants R01 NS035140, KM1 CA156709, UL1 TR001420, and 5KL2TR001421-04.
About this epilepsy and psychology research news
author: Myra Wright
sauce: Wake Forest University
contact: Myra Wright – Wake Forest University
image: image is public domain
See also
Original research: open access.
“Fear of going out: Anxiety-related quality of life deterioration due to phobias in a large cross-sectional sample of an adult epilepsy center.by Munger Clary et al. epilepsy research
overview
Fear of going out: Anxiety-related quality of life deterioration due to phobias in a large cross-sectional sample of an adult epilepsy center.
Purpose
People with epilepsy (PWE) have unmet medical needs, especially from a mental health perspective. Although the current literature establishes the increased incidence of anxiety and depression in PWE and their contribution to decreased quality of life, little is known about the existence and impact of specific phobias and agoraphobia. Is not … Our aim was to assess factors associated with advanced phobia/agoraphobia symptoms in a large single tertiary epilepsy center sample and assess their impact on quality of life.
method
In a diverse sample of 420 adults with epilepsy, we used severe logistic regression to assess the associations between demographic, epileptic, and cognitive factors and severe phobic symptoms. Symptoms were measured on the SCL-90R validated self-report subscale (T-score ≥ 60 is considered the high phobia symptom group). Severe logistic regression modeling was used to assess independent associations between demographic and clinical variables and the presence of advanced phobia symptoms, and severe linear regression modeling was used to assess epilepsy-specific life independent cross-sectional association with quality of life (QOLIE-89). .
result
Low educational attainment (adjusted OR 3.38), non-white race/ethnicity (adjusted OR 2.34), and generalized anxiety symptoms (adjusted OR 1.91) were independently associated with high phobia/agoraphobia symptoms. , all with p < 0.005. Phobias/agoraphobia symptoms were independently associated with decreased quality of life, as were depressive symptoms, older age, and non-white race/ethnicity. Generalized anxiety did not show a significant independent association with quality of life in multivariate models.
Conclusion
In this study sample, phobia/agoraphobia symptoms were independently associated with decreased quality of life. Clinicians should pay special attention to susceptible populations to encourage more global symptom screening, as these impactful symptoms may be overlooked when using a screening paradigm focused on generalized anxiety. The use of means should be considered.
