Nonadherence to Antiepileptic Medications and Its Determinants among Epileptic Patients at the University of Gondar Referral Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia, 2019: An Institutional-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Epilepsy Treatment Outcome and Its Predictors Among Children Who Had Chronic Follow Up at Dessie Comprehensive Specialized Hospital

Introduction

Epilepsy is a chronic non-communicable disease of the brain that affects millions of people worldwide. A significant number of children are affected globally, and most live in developing countries, often with physical and cognitive disabilities. Regardless of these factors, epilepsy is poorly controlled, particularly in the developing countries. Thus, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of treatment outcomes and its predictors among pediatrics patients with epilepsy who were followed-up at the Dessie Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia.

Methods

Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 June 2022 to 30 August 2022. A total of 200 patients with epilepsy were included in this study. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, and by reviewing medical records. The collected data were entered into Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25.0. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations were computed. Binary and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Variables with p < 0.25 in bivariate analysis were entered into multivariable logistic regression. In multivariable analysis, adjusted odd ratio with 95% CI and p-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

Of 200 pediatric patients with epilepsy, 66 (34.5%) had poor treatment outcomes. In the multivariate analysis, 11-15 years of age (AOR = 4.08; 95% CI = 1.202, 13.848), poor treatment adherence (AOR = 3.21; 95% CI = 1.421, 7.249), history of more seizure frequency before starting treatment (AOR = 4.19; 95% CI = 1.984, 8.834) and history of head injury (AOR = 3.03; 95% CI = 1.502, 6.112) were significantly associated with poor treatment outcomes in pediatric patients with epilepsy.

Conclusion

Significant proportion of pediatric patients with epilepsy had poor treatment outcomes. Therefore, health-care workers should strictly follow patient treatment especially for pediatric epileptic patients' who have poor treatment adherence, more seizure frequency history, head injury history and whose age were 11-15 years old.

Magnitude of uncontrolled seizures and associated factors among people with epilepsy. Data from a major teaching hospital in Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Epilepsy is a major public health problem affecting 70 million people worldwide. 90% of global people with epilepsy were living in developing regions like Ethiopia. Due to the lack of clear guidelines for treatment selection and the difficulty of individualizing care in resource-poor settings, achieving seizure control can be challenging. Seizure control status among epileptic patients is affected by different factors. Accordingly, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of uncontrolled seizures and associated factors among people with epilepsy attending the outpatient clinic of Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia.

METHODS

A hospital-based retrospective chart review and a respective patient interview conducted among people with epilepsy from October 2020 to June 2021. Sociodemographic, behavioral-related factors, medication adherence, and medication belief were obtained through patient interviews. Seizure control status in the last two years before the study period was retrospectively evaluated and recorded from the charts. Data were entered into Epi Data manager version 4.6 and then exported to SPSS version 23.0 for analysis. A backward logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with uncontrolled seizures.

RESULTS

From a total of 314 medical charts reviewed, 149(47.5 %) of patients were with uncontrolled seizures. 28.7 %,12.8 %, and 6 % of the patients experienced 1-5,6-10, and >10 seizure episodes during the last two years respectively. Comorbidity [adjusted odds ratio [(AOR): 2.13, 95 % confidence interval (CI):1.26-3.58], nonadherence [AOR: 2.41, 95 %CI: 1.46-3.9], possible adverse drug reaction (ADR) [AOR:1.79, 95 %CI: 1.107-3.01], and drug interaction [AOR: 3.06, 95 %CI: 1.24-7.57] were associated with an uncontrolled seizure.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Our study showed that a substantial proportion of the patients were with uncontrolled seizures. Epileptic patients with comorbidities, nonadherence, adverse drug reactions, and drug interactions were more prone to have uncontrolled seizures. Hence, to overcome these problems, strategies like community-based education, treatment intensification, and routine assessment of adverse drug reactions and drug interaction may help to improve seizure control status.

Handling Delayed or Missed Dose of Antiseizure Medications: A Model-Informed Individual Remedial Dosing

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Delayed or missed antiseizure medications (ASMs) doses are common during long-term or lifelong antiepilepsy treatment. This study aims to explore optimal individualized remedial dosing regimens for delayed or missed doses of 11 commonly used ASMs.

METHODS

To explore remedial dosing regimens, Monte Carlo simulation was used based on previously identified and published population pharmacokinetic models. Six remedial strategies for delayed or missed doses were investigated. The deviation time outside the individual therapeutic range was used to evaluate each remedial regimen. The influences of patients' demographics, concomitant medication, and scheduled dosing intervals on remedial regimens were assessed. RxODE and Shiny in R were used to perform Monte Carlo simulation and recommend individual remedial regimens.

RESULTS

The recommended remedial regimens were highly correlated with delayed time, scheduled dosing interval, and half-life of the ASM. Moreover, the optimal remedial regimens for pediatric and adult patients were different. The renal function, along with concomitant medication that affects the clearance of the ASM, may also influence the remedial regimens. A web-based dashboard was developed to provide individualized remedial regimens for the delayed or missed dose, and a user-defined module with all parameters that could be defined flexibly by the user was also built.

DISCUSSION

Monte Carlo simulation based on population pharmacokinetic models may provide a rational approach to propose remedial regimens for delayed or missed doses of ASMs in pediatric and adult patients with epilepsy.

Pattern of anti-epileptic medications nonadherence and associated factors at ambulatory clinic of Jimma Medical Center, Southwestern Ethiopia: A prospective observational study

Objective:

This study is designed to assess the pattern of nonadherence, and associated factors among ambulatory patients with epilepsy at Jimma Medical Center, Southwestern Ethiopia, from November 2020 to April 2021.

Methods:

A hospital-based prospective observational study was employed. A consecutive sampling method was used to recruit study participants. Nonadherence was assessed by the Hill–Bone compliance to the high blood pressure therapy scale. A threshold of 18 scores was used to classify adherence status. Epi-Data manager version 4.6 was used for data entry and all statistical analysis was performed by Statistical Package for Social Science 25.0. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to explore associated factors.

Results:

A survey included 334 patients with epilepsy. One hundred twenty-two (36.52%) of the study participants were found to be non-adherent. The factors associated with nonadherence were poor involvement of the patient in the therapeutic decision (adjusted odds ratio = 1.74; 95% confidence interval: 1.04–2.90; p = 0.034), per month income of lesser than1000 Ethiopian birr (adjusted odds ratio = 2.66; 95% confidence interval: 1.03–6.84; p = 0.042), recent seizure episodes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.97; 95% confidence interval: 1.20–3.23; p = 0.007), adverse drug reaction (AOR = 2.13; 95% confidence interval: 1.31–3.47; p = 0.002), and negative medication belief (adjusted odds ratio = 1.28; 95% confidence interval: 1.53–2.25; p = 0.043).

Conclusions:

In our setting, the magnitude of nonadherence was substantially high. Hence, providing regular health-related information about the disease and treatment, supplying free antiepileptic drugs, routine assessment of adverse drug reactions, and a multidisciplinary approach involving patients may improve adherence.

Medicinal plants utilized in the management of epilepsy in Ethiopia: ethnobotany, pharmacology and phytochemistry

Epilepsy is a common central nervous system (CNS) disorder that affects 50 million people worldwide. Patients with status epilepticus (SE) suffer from devastating comorbidities and a high incidence of mortalities. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are the mainstream treatment options for the symptomatic relief of epilepsy. The incidence of refractory epilepsy and the dose-dependent neurotoxicity of AEDs such as fatigue, cognitive impairment, dizziness, attention-deficit behavior, and other side effects are the major bottlenecks in epilepsy treatment. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), epilepsy patients failed to adhere to the AEDs regimens and consider other options such as complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) to relieve pain due to status epilepticus (SE). Plant-based CAMs are widely employed for the treatment of epilepsy across the globe including Ethiopia. The current review documented around 96 plant species (PS) that are often used for the treatment of epilepsy in Ethiopia. It also described the in vivo anticonvulsant activities and toxicity profiles of the antiepileptic medicinal plants (MPs). Moreover, the phytochemical constituents of MPs with profound anticonvulsant effects were also assessed. The result reiterated that a lot has to be done to show the association between herbal-based epilepsy treatment and in vivo pharmacological activities of MPs regarding their mechanism of action (MOA), toxicity profiles, and bioactive constituents so that they can advance into the clinics and serve as a treatment option for epilepsy.

The development and efficacy of a mobile phone application to improve medication adherence for persons with epilepsy in limited resource settings: A preliminary study

OBJECTIVE

Persons with epilepsy (PWE), especially those with limited education backgrounds from developing countries, are challenged by complicated medication regimens, debilitating seizures, and stigmatization in their daily life. Consequently, it is difficult for physicians to ensure medication adherence. This study validates a novel mobile application which was hypothesized to increase medication adherence and self-management skills in PWE. Created by medical professionals, the application included behavioral and educational components and was built to be easy-to-understand for those of socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

METHODS

This was a parallel, two-armed randomized controlled trial in which a total of 96 participants were enrolled from a Neurology Outpatient Department into a control standard care group and a mobile application group that used the smartphone application (app) in addition to the standard medical treatment. The app was intuitive and easy to understand for those coming from a socio-economically disadvantaged background. Medication adherence and self-efficacy were assessed with the Morisky Green and Levine Scale (MGLS) and the Epilepsy Self Efficacy Scale (ESES). Patients were reassessed 12 weeks later. Change in seizure frequency following administration of the application was a secondary outcome.

RESULTS

In an intent-to-treat analysis, the mobile application interventional group showed over a 60% increase in the proportion of medication adherence (P < 0.0001). The mean self-efficacy score for the mobile application group was increased from 269.5 to 289.75 (P < 0.0001). The control group showed no statistically significant increases in either the proportion adherent or mean self-efficacy scores.

SIGNIFICANCE

This study demonstrated the statistically significant performance of a mobile application in improving medication adherence and self-management skills in Indian persons with epilepsy.