J Nerv Ment Dis

Identifying relationships between depression severity and clinical factors may help with appropriate recognition and management of neuropsychiatric conditions in persons with epilepsy (PWE). Demographic characteristics, epilepsy variables, and medical and psychiatric comorbidities were examined from a baseline randomized controlled trial sample of 120 PWE. Among demographic characteristics, only inability to work was significantly associated with depression severity (p = 0.05). Higher 30-day seizure frequency (p < 0.01) and lower quality of life (p < 0.0001) were associated with greater depression severity. Comorbid bipolar disorder (p = 0.02), panic disorder (p < 0.01), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (p < 0.01) were correlated with worse depression severity. The literature supports our findings of correlations between worse depression, seizure frequency, and lower quality of life. Less well studied is our finding of greater depression severity and selected psychiatric comorbidities in PWE.U48 DP005030/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United StatesU48DP005030/ACL/ACL HHS/United StatesUL1 TR000439/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United StatesUL1 TR002548/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States2020-04-01T00:00:00Z30865078PMC65265267469vault:3221