COVID-19 containment and its unrestrained impact on epilepsy management in resource-limited areas of Pakistan

The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that led to an unprecedented crisis with significant health, social, and economic repercussions presented more serious concerns for those living with some chronic conditions such as epilepsy. This study was aimed to find out impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on management of epilepsy. A cross-sectional study was conducted through telephone interviews, targeting 213 caregivers of pediatric patients with epilepsy, belonging to underserved areas of Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. A simple questionnaire was designed to record the responses of participants relevant to the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 pandemic and their knowledge about possible ways that can be accessed for the management of epilepsy during an ongoing pandemic. The current study, which holds 77% of the respondents from rural areas and 23% from urban settings, showed that partial measures of lockdown taken to stop or slow the spread of COVID-19 resulted in adverse economic and health outcomes in the said population including cancelation of follow-up visits, worsening of seizures, job loss, burden of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) costs, and discontinuation of medicines. Furthermore, knowledge about alternative ways to access health facilities was found very poor among caregivers. Income sources of poor people disrupted by lockdown can lead to unintentional nonadherence to medication, which is a clear picture of inequitable distribution of resources. This study highlights the major issues faced by the caregivers during this ongoing pandemic of COVID-19. •This study highlights the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of epilepsy in resource-limited areas•Majority of the caregivers of pediatric epilepsy patients were not familiar with the concept of telemedicine•Potential adverse effect of dreadful pandemic was treatment discontinuation linked to disruption of income sources.