Personality traits in patients with refractory versus non-refractory epilepsy

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy has significant effects on the behavior of most people who suffer it. In some cases, the seizure activity itself is manifested as a brief change in behavior that might appear unusual to the casual observer. Evidence also suggests that epilepsy can affect behavior when seizures are not occurring. Descriptions of inter-ictal behavior in people with epilepsy have a long and controversial history. The study aims to assess the personality disorders among epileptic patients and impact of the severity of epilepsy on personality traits. Methods: This study is conducted upon 90 patients presented at outpatient clinic of epilepsy in Assiut University Hospital diagnosed as having epilepsy versus 40 cross-matched healthy controls. Patient group were classified into two groups (refractory versus controlled groups). All patients and control were subjected to (1) detailed medical interview. (2) Assessment of intelligence using The Arabic Version of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. (3) Conventional EEG study. (4) The Arabic Version of The Structured interview for the five-factor model of personality. Results: A relationship was found between personality traits and the severity of epilepsy. When patients have more severe epilepsy, they often have a high seizure frequency, they use more antiepileptic medications. It is likely that in those patients the need for control is usually high (because seizures mean a loss of control). Regarding the five-factor model of personality which we used to assess the personality traits of our selected studied samples, we found that the five main domains of the scale which are neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness differ markedly between the two groups of our patients. We found neuroticism was markedly increased at the refractory epileptic patients than the controlled epileptic ones, while extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness increased at the controlled epileptic patients than the refractory epileptic ones. Conclusion: Patients with epilepsy have raised scores for several personality traits also those personality traits are different in patients with refractory and controlled epilepsy. Also, those personality traits are different compared with a control group from the general population.