RESUMEN
Background: The study was aimed to screen cognitive impairment and assess its levels among epilepsy patients, also study the prevalence and the relationships between specific seizure subtype and determine the correlation between seizure frequency, seizure duration and abnormal EEG finding with cognitive impairment among epilepsy patients.Methods: The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital over a period of 1yr after taking informed consent from 100 patients by random sampling after fulfilling the inclusion criteria.Results: Out of 100 patients 64% did not have cognitive impairment, 36% had cognitive impairment. Among 36%, 7% had definitive cognitive impairment and 29% had mild cognitive impairment. It was observed that the other group of seizure subtypes which included atonic, myoclonic, focal sensory, focal motor, absence seizure with secondary generalization had low mean cognitive scores signifying cognitive impairment, where as those with complex partial seizure with secondary generalization group had high mean cognitive scores signifying no cognitive dysfunction. However, the observed difference is statistically significant (p<0.05). Patients who had higher seizure frequency had low mean cognitive scores indicating cognitive decline and those with very low seizure frequency had high mean cognitive scores indicating no cognitive decline. However, the observed difference is statistically significant. It was observed that the mean cognitive score for abnormal EEG patients was 24.68 indicating mild cognitive decline whereas for normal EEG patients the mean cognitive score was 26.27 indicating no cognitive decline however the observed difference is statistically significant since P<0.05.Conclusions: The high prevalence of cognitive impairment among epilepsy patients calls for early neuropsychological assessment soon after the diagnosis of epilepsy beyond that, the baseline screening may also guide treatment plan and serve as an early indicator for rehabilitative care.