Sunmonu T A, Komolafe M A, Ogunrin A O, Oladimeji B Y, Ogunniyi A
Neurology Unit, Department of Medicine, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
Acta Neurol Scand. 2008 Dec;118(6):395-401. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2008.01054.x. Epub 2008 Jun 28.
Epilepsy is the most common non-infectious neurologic disease in developing countries such as Africa, including Nigeria. This study was designed to assess the intellectual performance of patients with epilepsy (PWE) in Nigeria hoping that the result will serve as the basis for educational, vocational, and social counseling.
Forty-one PWE were studied along with 41 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls. A questionnaire was developed and applied to all subjects and history was taken from patients and eyewitness. The intellectual function of each subject was assessed with the aid of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale adapted for Nigerians. All patients subsequently had electroencephalography (EEG) performed and the EEG findings were noted. SPSS statistical package was used to analyze the data.
The PWE performed poorly on the verbal IQ, performance IQ, and full scale IQ scores when compared with controls (P < 0.05) and 20% of PWE had mental retardation. Long duration of epilepsy, long duration of antiepileptic drug therapy, younger age at onset of epilepsy, increased frequency of seizures, and low educational status were found to have negative impacts on intellectual performance in PWE (P < 0.05) while seizure types and type of antiepileptic drugs (carbamazepine or phenytoin) did not influence intellectual performance.
This study shows that PWE had significant intellectual impairment when compared with controls. In addition, long duration of epilepsy, long duration of AED therapy, earlier age of onset, increased seizure frequency, and low educational status had a negative impact on intellectual functioning in PWE.
癫痫是非洲等发展中国家最常见的非传染性神经系统疾病，包括尼日利亚。本研究旨在评估尼日利亚癫痫患者（PWE）的智力表现，希望研究结果能为教育、职业和社会咨询提供依据。
对41名癫痫患者以及41名年龄、性别和教育程度相匹配的健康对照者进行研究。设计了一份问卷并应用于所有受试者，从患者及其目击者处获取病史。借助适用于尼日利亚人的韦氏成人智力量表评估每个受试者的智力功能。随后对所有患者进行脑电图（EEG）检查并记录EEG结果。使用SPSS统计软件包分析数据。
与对照组相比，癫痫患者在言语智商、操作智商和全量表智商得分方面表现较差（P < 0.05），20%的癫痫患者有智力障碍。癫痫病程长、抗癫痫药物治疗时间长、癫痫发病年龄小、发作频率增加以及教育程度低对癫痫患者的智力表现有负面影响（P < 0.05），而发作类型和抗癫痫药物类型（卡马西平或苯妥英钠）不影响智力表现。
本研究表明，与对照组相比，癫痫患者存在明显的智力损害。此外，癫痫病程长、抗癫痫药物治疗时间长、发病年龄早、发作频率增加以及教育程度低对癫痫患者的智力功能有负面影响。
