Burden of depression and anxiety among caregivers of children having structural epilepsy

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders in childhood. Structural malformations of the cerebral cortex are an important cause of developmental disabilities and epilepsy; this leads to a significant amount of psychological burden on parents of such children. Despite being a common and debilitating neurological illness, there is a paucity of data on the burden of stress and depression in parents of such children. The objective was to find out the burden of these illnesses on caregivers of such children. This was a hospital-based cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted in the Department of Pediatrics (both inpatient and outpatient), PGIMS Rohtak, during the period of June-September 2023. Parents of children with structural epilepsy (age: 2-14 years) were study subjects. A cross-sectional study involving parents of 100 children with structural epilepsy (aged 2-14 years) was conducted using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). Data were recorded in Microsoft Office Excel. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences v22. Statistical significance was checked by P value (two-tailed) considering value < 0.05 as significant. Higher levels of anxiety and depression were seen in parents of children having structural epilepsy. Relatively higher levels were seen in parents of such children who were receiving polytherapy (HDRS (P = 0.002); HAM-A (0.001)). This study shows a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression among caregivers of children having structural epilepsy. Parents of such children require extra support as they appear to be a population prone to illnesses that will hinder the proper care of children with structural epilepsy and their quality of life. This circle has to be broken for better upbringing and treatment compliance for such children. Preventive and therapeutic interventions need to be taken to reduce the burden of such psychiatric illness at the community level.