Depressive feelings in children with narcolepsy

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate depressive feelings and their correlations in children and adolescents with narcolepsy collected in national reference centers for narcolepsy. Methods: We compared clinical and sleep characteristics of patients with and without depressive symptoms evaluated on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Results: Our study sample included 88 children (44 boys; 44 de novo patients) with a mean age of 11.9. ±. 3.1. years at diagnosis (37.5% were aged ≤10. years). Obesity was found in 59% of the sample and cataplexy was present in 80.7%. The DQB1*0602 allele was positive in 93.5% of our sample. There were 25% of children who had clinically depressive feelings (CDI. > 16), especially girls older than the age of 10. years. Bivariate associations indicated that depressive feelings were associated with fatigue (48%), hyperactivity (31%), insomnia (16%), and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) (14-24%). In the multivariate model adjusted for gender and age, only fatigue explained the variability of the depression score. Conclusion: In our large cohort, high levels of depressive symptoms essentially expressed by fatigue affected 25% of children with narcolepsy. The girls older than 10. years of age were especially vulnerable. The similar prevalence of depressive feelings in treated vs never-treated patients suggests a specific need for diagnosing and managing this symptom in young patients with narcolepsy. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.