Risk Factors of Behavioral Problems in Pediatric Epilepsy

Background: Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorders in children and the number of case for epilepsy still incre­asing. Epilepsy can affect children and their growth physically, psy­cho­logi­cally, and socially, yet the treatment of behavioral problems in pediatric epilepsy is still lacking. This stu­dy aimed to investigate the association of frequency of seizure, type of seizure, duration of illness, and use of antiepileptic drug with behavioral dis­order in children with epilepsy. Subjects and Method : This was an analytical observational study with a cross sectional design. The study was conducted at Pediatric Neurology Unit of Dr. Moewardi hospital, Sura­karta, from September to October 2016. A sample of 50 pediatric patients with epilepsy was selected for this study. Parents or care­givers completed behavioral problems screen­ing tool Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) and were interviewed about frequency of seizure, type of seizure, duration of illness, and use of antiepileptic drug. The data were ana­lyzed by a multiple logistic regres­sion. Results: Frequent seizure (OR= 3.09; 95% CI= 0.89 to 10.59; p= 0.068) increased beha­vioral problem. Being treated with ≥1 anti-epileptic drugs (OR= 1.58; 95% CI= 0.44 to 5.71; p= 0.521) increased beha­vioral problem, but it was statistically non-significant. Type of seizure (OR= 1.01; 95% CI= 0.32 to 3.20; p= 0.991) and duration of illness ≥1 year (OR= 1.03; 95% CI= 0.22 to 4.89; p= 1.000) were not associated with behavioural problem. Conclusion: Frequent seizure increase beha­vioral problem Keyword s : epilepsy, behavioral problems, pediatrics Correspondence:  Fadhilah Tia Nur. Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sebelas Maret. Jl. Ir. Sutami 36 A, Surakarta 57126, Central Java. Email: fadhilah.harris@gmail.com Indonesian Journal of Medicine (2020), 05(02): 162-169 https://doi.org/10.26911/theijmed.2020.05.02.11