Efficacy of a psychological online intervention for depression in people with epilepsy: A randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Depression is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder in persons with epilepsy (PWEs). Despite its major impact on quality of life and risk of suicide, most PWEs are not treated for depression. A current challenge in mental health care is how to close this treatment gap and increase access to psychological services. Psychological online interventions (POIs) have shown efficacy in improving depression among individuals without neurologic disorders. This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a psychological online intervention for depression (Deprexis) in PWEs who have symptoms of depression. METHODS: Participants with self-reported epilepsy and subjective complaints of depressive symptoms were randomized to an intervention condition (Deprexis) or to a waiting list control (WLC) condition. After 9 weeks, participants were invited to complete an online reassessment. RESULTS: Relative to the waiting list group, program users experienced a significant symptom decline on the Beck Depression Inventory - I (BDI-I, primary outcome) with a moderate effect size in the complete observations analysis and a small effect size in the intention-to-treat analysis. Furthermore, there was a significant improvement with a moderate effect size on the "energy/fatigue" subscale of the Quality of Life In Epilepsy Inventory - 31 (QOLIE-31). SIGNIFICANCE: The results of this trial suggest that POIs may be a feasible and beneficial tool for PWEs who have comorbid depressive symptoms

Antidepressant use and risk of epilepsy and seizures in people aged 20 to 64 years: cohort study using a primary care database

Background: Epilepsy is a serious condition which can profoundly affect an individual’s life. While there is some evidence to suggest an association between antidepressant use and epilepsy and seizures it is conflicting and not conclusive. Antidepressant prescribing is rising in the UK so it is important to quantify absolute risks with individual antidepressants to enable shared decision making with patients. In this study we assess and quantify the association between antidepressant treatment and the risk of epilepsy and seizures in a large cohort of patients diagnosed with depression aged between 20 and 64 years. Methods: Data on 238,963 patients with a diagnosis of depression aged 20 to 64 from 687 UK practices were extracted from the QResearch primary care database. We used Cox’s proportional hazards to analyse the time to the first recorded diagnosis of epilepsy/seizures, excluding patients with a prior history and estimated hazard ratios for antidepressant exposure adjusting for potential confounding variables. Results: In the first 5 years of follow-up, 878 (0.37 %) patients had a first diagnosis of epilepsy/seizures with the hazard ratio (HR) significantly increased (P < 0.01) for all antidepressant drug classes and for 8 of the 11 most commonly prescribed drugs. The highest risks (in the first 5 years) compared with no treatment were for trazodone (HR 5.41, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 3.05 to 9.61, number needed to harm (NNH) 65), lofepramine (HR 3.09, 95 % CI 1.73 to 5.50, NNH 138), venlafaxine (HR 2.84, 95 % CI 1.97 to 4.08, NNH 156) and combined antidepressant treatment (HR 2.73, 95 % CI 1.52 to 4.91, NNH 166). Conclusions: Risk of epilepsy/seizures is significantly increased for all classes of antidepressant. There is a need for individual risk-benefit assessments in patients being considered for antidepressant treatment, especially those with ongoing mild depression or with additional risk factors. Residual confounding and indication bias may influence our results, so confirmation may be required from additional studies

Cognitive behavior therapy for depression in people with epilepsy: A systematic review

Summary Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a recommended treatment for depression in people with epilepsy (PWE); however, a recent Cochrane review found that there was insufficient evidence that any psychological therapy is effective. This conclusion provides little help to clinicians who provide interventions for depressed PWE. The aim of this review was to systematically and qualitatively review the literature on the efficacy of CBT for depression in PWE based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and case series. We aim to determine patterns in the literature to inform the type of CBT, if any, that should be offered to PWE who are depressed. Databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane EBM Reviews were searched via OVID. Selection criteria included the following: (1) participants with epilepsy; (2) use of CBT; (3) valid depression outcome measure; and (4) published in peer-reviewed journal in English. Inclusions of studies were assessed by two independent researchers. We identified 14 outcome papers for 13 CBT trials including 6 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 7 case series. Positive effects of CBT on depression were reported in three of six RCTs. A review of their content revealed that all effective RCTs specifically tailored CBT to improve depression. Conversely, two of three RCTs that failed to find depression-related effects focused on improving seizure-control. This pattern was also observed in the case series. Although limited in number and having methodologic limitations, the treatment studies included in our review suggest that interventions tailored toward improving depression are possibly efficacious, whereas those that focus on improving seizure control do not appear to be. However, this review highlights that there is need for further RCTs in this area in order to confirm the possible efficacy of CBT for depression in PWE.10 page(s