Depression is the most frequent comorbid psychiatric disorder in epilepsy (40-60%)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of depressive disorders among patients with epilepsy, and to determine the risk factors of the occurrence of the depressive.

A prospective study conducted from epilepsy out patient consultations at Marrakech Hospital, involving 70 patients with idiopathic, cryptogenic or symptomatic epilepsy. Epilepsy was diagnosed on the clinical criteria and the electroencephalograms data. Depression were evaluated by DSM IV.

50 % of patients were men, the mean age was 30.64 ± 11,59 years, 47 % of epileptic patients were without profession, 78,3% had low socioeconomic level. The epilepsy age of onset was 15,8 ± 9, 47 years with an average duration of 14.96 years. The prevalence of depression was 32,85%. According to sex, the prevalence was 20% in women and 12 % in men. The epilepsy-depression and epilepsy-control groups did not differ significantly in the frequency of seizures, duration of epilepsy or in the type of antiepileptic drugs. 50% of patients with temporal epilepsy were depressed without significant relation.

The present study confirms the findings of previous studies that the prevalence of the comorbidity between epilepsy and depression is common in specialised outpatient units. The detection and the treatment of depressive disorders among the epileptic patients will improve the quality of life of these patients.