FREQUENCY OF HEADACHE AND IMPROVEMENT WITH THE TREATMENT AMONG THE PATIENTS OF EPILEPSY

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of headache among the patients of epilepsy and improvement in it after the treatment at a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan.

Study Design: Interventional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Neurology, Pak Emirates Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from May 2018 to Aug 2018.

Methodology: A total of 110 cases were included in the study, which were diagnosed as epilepsy in neurology outpatient department (OPD) by a consultant neurologist. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Migraine Disability Assessment Questionnaire (MIDAS) were administered to these patients at the presentation and then 2 weeks after the appropriate medical treatment for epilepsy to assess the difference between the severity scores of the headache before and after the appropriate antiepileptic treatment.

Results: A total of 125 patients were included, eighty patients were males and 30 were females. Most common type of seizures were generalized followed by partial. Sodium valproate was the most commonly prescribed antiepileptic drug followed by Levetiracetam and carbamezapine. 68 (61.8%) of our patients had headache at the time of presentation and diagnosis of epilepsy. Mean MIDAS score of the patients before the anti-epileptic treatment was 17.69 ± 3.85 and two weeks after the treatment was 7.29 ± 4.968 (p-value <0.05).

Conclusion: Headache was highly prevalent symptom among the patients of epilepsy in this study. Anti-epileptic drugs had a significant role in reduction of the headaches along with the seizures among our target population. Routine screening and prompt treatment with anti-epileptic drugs may address this understudied phenomenon among the epileptic patients.