Obstacles to mental health care in pediatric epilepsy: insight from parents

Standardized Screening for Depression in Pediatric Epilepsy

INTRODUCTION

Depression is a common comorbidity of epilepsy that is under-recognized and under-diagnosed. To improve recognition, a brief screening tool, the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory-Epilepsy-Youth (NDDI-E-Y) was implemented in a level-IV pediatric epilepsy clinic.

METHOD

This quality improvement is a pre-post design measuring the impact of standardized depression screening, via the NDDI-E-Y tool, in youth 12-17 years with epilepsy. Those with positive screens, scores > 32, received social work evaluation and mental health resources. Education was provided to all patients in standard discharge paperwork.

RESULTS

Of N = 176 patients evaluated, n = 112 met criteria to complete the NDDI-E-Y. Fifteen percent (n = 17) of patients had positive screens, suggesting that they are at risk for depression.

DISCUSSION

Depression is a challenge when managing patients with epilepsy and may impact their quality of life and seizure control. Routine depression screening is recommended and feasible in the outpatient setting with a standardized work process.

Common psychiatric comorbidities in epilepsy: How big of a problem is it?

Psychiatric illness and epilepsy commonly co-occur in adults and in children and adolescents. Theories of comorbidity are complex, but recurring associations between the conditions suggest overlap that is more than simple co-occurrence. Common underlying pathophysiology may imply that epilepsy itself may constituently include psychiatric symptoms. Conditions such as depression or cognitive difficulties commonly occur and in some cases, are considered to be associated with specific epilepsy characteristics such as localization or seizure type. Regardless of etiologic attributions to psychiatric comorbidity, it is clear today that treatment for epilepsy needs to target psychiatric illness. In many cases, quality-of-life improvements depend more upon addressing psychiatric symptoms than seizures themselves. This article is part of the Special Issue "Obstacles of Treatment of Psychiatric Comorbidities in Epilepsy".

Advocacy for children with epilepsy: Leveraging the WHA resolution. Advocacy Task Force, Commission of Pediatrics, International League Against Epilepsy

In May 2015 the World Health Assembly (WHA) approved the Resolution on the Global Burden of Epilepsy. This report addresses how the Resolution can be leveraged to improve the care of children with epilepsy worldwide. Children with epilepsy have unique needs and face unique challenges from stigma at all levels of society. Children lack a voice to lobby for their own needs, including their right to have access to education. Effective leadership and governance should be enhanced through the support of stakeholders empowered to counsel, advise, and lobby for appropriate care. National health care plans should integrate primary and specialist care, and they need to be adapted to local specificities. Antiepileptic medicines should be widely accessible in appropriate, sustained, and affordable ways. Public awareness initiatives are needed to improve the inclusion of affected children in society and to reduce stigma. Cost-effective interventions are also needed to address preventable causes of epilepsy. Without greater investment in research, evidence-based interventions cannot be implemented. Through all of this, civil society must be engaged to ensure that the multivariate dimensions from the clinic to the community are addressed to fulfil the needs of children with epilepsy.

Epilepsy or a Seizure Disorder? Parental Knowledge and Misconceptions About Terminology

OBJECTIVE

To assess primary caregiver understanding of the term epilepsy.

STUDY DESIGN

A cross-sectional telephone survey evaluated understanding of the term epilepsy among primary caregivers of children diagnosed with epilepsy at an urban referral center during a 24-month period. Three measures of primary caregiver understanding were used: (1) identifying if their child had a seizure disorder, epilepsy, or both; (2) providing an open-ended definition of epilepsy; and (3) selecting from a multiple-choice definition of epilepsy. Caregivers with 3 correct answers were assigned the greatest knowledge score. Associations with possible predictor variables were analyzed.

RESULTS

Caregivers for 75 of 116 eligible patients were contacted successfully. Of those, 55 of 75 met eligibility criteria; 45 of the eligible caregivers completed the survey. Twenty-six of 45 caregivers (58%) identified that their child had both a seizure disorder and epilepsy, 5 of 45 (11%) provided a correct open-ended definition of epilepsy, and 16 of 45 (36%) selected the correct multiple-choice definition. Fifteen caregivers (33%) had no correct answers. Seventeen (38%) answered 1, 9 (20%) answered 2, and 4 (9%) answered all 3 measures correctly. Caregivers with greater self-rated understanding had greater epilepsy knowledge scores (P = .008). Having a child neurologist as the first person to discuss the diagnosis with the caregiver also predicted a greater epilepsy knowledge score (P = .04).

CONCLUSIONS

Most primary caregivers of children with epilepsy have a poor understanding of the term epilepsy. Changes are needed in how we educate caregivers about the meaning of this term.

Systematic review of unmet healthcare needs in patients with epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

Patients with epilepsy (PWE) are more likely to have unmet healthcare needs than the general population. This systematic review assessed the reasons for unmet needs in PWE.

METHODS

Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases were searched using keywords relating to unmet healthcare needs, treatment barriers, and access to care. The search included all countries, adult and pediatric populations, survey and qualitative studies, but excluded non-English articles and articles published before 2001. Reasons for unmet needs were extracted.

RESULTS

Nineteen survey and 22 qualitative studies were included. Three survey and five qualitative studies excluded patients with comorbidities. There were twice as many studies on unmet mental healthcare needs than unmet physical care needs in PWE. Poor availability of health services, accessibility issues, and lack of health information contributed to unmet needs in both Western and developing countries. Lack of health services, long wait lists, uncoordinated care, and difficulty getting needed health information were prevalent in the United States (US) as well as countries with a universal healthcare system. However, unmet needs due to costs of care were reported more commonly in studies from the US.

SIGNIFICANCE

This systematic review identified reasons for unmet needs in PWE across different countries, which will inform specific interventions required to address these unmet needs. Unmet needs may have been underestimated due to exclusion of PWE with comorbidities in some studies. Additional studies are needed to understand the contribution of comorbidities on unmet needs and their interaction with caregiver and family factors.

Behavioral health referrals in pediatric epilepsy

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of a behavioral health referral protocol and barriers to behavioral health care in a pediatric epilepsy clinic. A sample of 93 youth with epilepsy ages 10-17 and caregivers completed behavioral health and seizure severity measures during a routine epilepsy clinic visit. Key findings are that 47 (50.5%) of the youth screened positive for a behavioral health referral, and 35 of these youth were referred for behavioral health services. However, only 20% made and presented for the behavioral health appointment. The most commonly cited barrier for accessing and utilizing behavioral health care was stigma related- a mental health label for the child. The significance of this study lies in the revelation that solely screening for and educating caregivers about behavioral health symptoms and providing behavioral health referral information is not an ideal model. Instead, stigma related barriers point to the necessity of continued integrated physical and behavioral health care within the pediatric epilepsy visit.

Maternal knowledge of acute seizures

Objective:

To study maternal knowledge -of, and behavior during acute seizures.

Methods:

A cross sectional study conducted from September 2013 to January 2014 included consecutive mothers presenting at the Pediatric Neurology Clinics of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A structured 30-item questionnaire was designed to examine their demographics, knowledge, and behavior on acute seizures.

Results:

A total of 92 mothers were interviewed and 41% witnessed at least one acute seizure in their affected child (range 1-15 years, mean 4.5). Up to 26% felt not knowledgeable at all regarding the acute care and management of seizure. Mothers with higher education (college or university degree) were more likely to feel very knowledgeable (19% versus 11%, p=0.02). Only 10% were aware of an antiepileptic drug that could be used at home to stop prolonged seizures, and 35% mentioned that they would wait for 15 minutes before taking the child to the emergency department. Most mothers (93%) wanted more information. Those who felt strongly regarding that (66%), were more likely to be younger (<27 years) (p=0.01), and have at least 3 out of 7 mismanagement decisions (p=0.003).

Conclusion:

Maternal level of knowledge and behavior during acute seizures needs improvement. Many mothers have significant misinformation, negative behavior, and poor management practices. Increased awareness and educational programs are needed.

A national profile of childhood epilepsy and seizure disorder

OBJECTIVE

To determine sociodemographics, patterns of comorbidity, and function of US children with reported epilepsy/seizure disorder.

METHODS

Bivariate and multivariable cross-sectional analysis of data from the National Survey of Children's Health (2007) on 91 605 children ages birth to 17 years, including 977 children reported by their parents to have been diagnosed with epilepsy/seizure disorder.

RESULTS

Estimated lifetime prevalence of epilepsy/seizure disorder was 10.2/1000 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.7-11.8) or 1%, and of current reported epilepsy/seizure disorder was 6.3/1000 (95% CI: 4.9-7.8). Epilepsy/seizure disorder prevalence was higher in lower-income families and in older, male children. Children with current reported epilepsy/seizure disorder were significantly more likely than those never diagnosed to experience depression (8% vs 2%), anxiety (17% vs 3%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (23% vs 6%), conduct problems (16% vs 3%), developmental delay (51% vs 3%), autism/autism spectrum disorder (16% vs 1%), and headaches (14% vs 5%) (all P < .05). They had greater risk of limitation in ability to do things (relative risk: 9.22; 95% CI: 7.56-11.24), repeating a school grade (relative risk: 2.59; CI: 1.52-4.40), poorer social competence and greater parent aggravation, and were at increased risk of having unmet medical and mental health needs. Children with prior but not current seizures largely had intermediate risk.

CONCLUSIONS

In a nationally representative sample, children with seizures were at increased risk for mental health, developmental, and physical comorbidities, increasing needs for care coordination and specialized services. Children with reported prior but not current seizures need further study to establish reasons for their higher than expected levels of reported functional limitations.

Knowledge and information needs of young people with epilepsy and their parents: Mixed-method systematic review

Background

Young people with neurological impairments such as epilepsy are known to receive less adequate services compared to young people with other long-term conditions. The time (age 13-19 years) around transition to adult services is particularly important in facilitating young people's self-care and ongoing management. There are epilepsy specific, biological and psycho-social factors that act as barriers and enablers to information exchange and nurturing of self-care practices. Review objectives were to identify what is known to be effective in delivering information to young people age 13-19 years with epilepsy and their parents, to describe their experiences of information exchange in healthcare contexts, and to identify factors influencing positive and negative healthcare communication.

Methods

The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information Coordinating Centre systematic mixed-method approach was adapted to locate, appraise, extract and synthesise evidence. We used Ley's cognitive hypothetical model of communication and subsequently developed a theoretical framework explaining information exchange in healthcare contexts.

Results

Young people and parents believed that healthcare professionals were only interested in medical management. Young people felt that discussions about their epilepsy primarily occurred between professionals and parents. Epilepsy information that young people obtained from parents or from their own efforts increased the risk of epilepsy misconceptions. Accurate epilepsy knowledge aided psychosocial adjustment. There is some evidence that interventions, when delivered in a structured psycho-educational, age appropriate way, increased young people's epilepsy knowledge, with positive trend to improving quality of life. We used mainly qualitative and mixed-method evidence to develop a theoretical framework explaining information exchange in clinical encounters.

Conclusions

There is a paucity of evidence reporting effective interventions, and the most effective ways of delivering information/education in healthcare contexts. No studies indicated if improvement was sustained over time and whether increased knowledge was effective in improving in self-care. Current models of facilitating information exchange and self-care around transition are not working well. There is an urgent need for further studies to develop and evaluate interventions to facilitate successful information exchange, and follow young people over time to see if interventions showing early promise are effective in the medium to long-term.