Interpersonal communication skills related to seizure outcomes in pediatric patients with vagus nerve stimulation

•Interpersonal communication skills (IPCS) are ability to use more than simple words.•Pediatric patients with IPCS show a promising response to VNS.•Interpersonal communication skills can be easily assessed in pediatric population. Various clinical parameters have been reported to be associated with favorable seizure outcomes after vagus nerve stimulation (VNS); however, none of these parameters have been conclusively validated. Here, we evaluated interpersonal communication skills (IPCS) and seizure outcomes in pediatric patients treated with VNS. We enrolled 31 Japanese pediatric patients (mean ± SD: 9.0 ± 3.4 years old, range: 3–15 years old) who were treated with VNS and had at least 2 years of follow-up. We divided the patients into two groups: a responder group with ≥50% seizure reduction from the average number of seizures 2 months before VNS; and a nonresponder group with