Recalling the COVID-19 lockdown: Insights from patients with epilepsy

•COVID-19 lockdowns are linked to health worsening in patients with epilepsy.•Proper AED use may be especially important to prevent seizure exacerbation.•The access to epilepsy services and their quality is suboptimal during lockdown. The purpose of our study was to explore health changes among people with epilepsy (PWE) during a national COVID-19 lockdown in the context of patients’ clinical characteristics and their experience of receiving epilepsy-related medical services. A questionnaire was distributed for adult PWE both online and at a tertiary epilepsy center after the end of a national lockdown in Lithuania. PWE were asked to evaluate their health status during the lockdown and estimate changes in their seizure patterns. Additional questions concerned the accessibility and quality of epilepsy-related consultations. The study sample consisted of 143 PWE (59 [41.3%] male, mean age 35.1 ± 13.4 years), 94 (65.7%) completed the survey in person, 49 (34.3%) – online. A deterioration in reported physical and mental health during lockdown was observed (Z = −4.604, p