AِSSESSMENT OF IQ IN EPILEPTIC CHILDREN ANY PSYCOSOCIAL IMPACT ON CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

The common type of seizure observed was GTC seizures. IQ was normal in the majority of children, the main associated factors with low IQ were early age of onset, partial seizures and frequent seizures. Almost two thirds of patients are of normal behaviour while one third was having disruptive behaviour. Those who had seizures starting early in life, with frequent or prolonged seizures are more liable to have behavioural problems. Two thirds of patients with poor academic achievement were of normal IQ reflecting the role of psychosocial factors in poor academic achievement of the children in spite of their normal potential. Epilepsy was shown to affect the social life of a minority of children within their society, 90% of the children had good social relations while 92% of families were significantly affected by the disease of their child. They face multiple social and financial problems in 45.6% beside loss of job and financial problems in 36.8%. More than 50 percent worry about the impact of the disease on the child, 19.8% worry about inheritance, 14.3% worry about other sibs while 11.1% still believe that epielpsy is an infectious disease. we conclude that epilepsy had physical, social and psychological effect on patient and families that should be carefully considered by the clinician. Low IQ and behaviour problems were associated with seizure related factors so a better medical care will help in improving quality of life of epileptic children