Dissociative experiences in patients with epilepsy / Experiências dissociativas em pacientes com epilepsia

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT A few studies have explored dissociative experiences in epilepsy patients. We investigated dissociative experiences in patients with epilepsy using the dissociative experiences scale (DES). Ninety-eight patients with epilepsy and sixty healthy controls were enrolled in this study. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were administered to the participants. The DES scores were significantly higher for the patients with epilepsy than the healthy individuals. The number of individuals with pathological dissociation (DES ≥ 30) was higher in the epilepsy group (n = 28) than in the control group (n = 8). Also, higher levels of dissociation were significantly associated with frequency of seizures, but were not associated with duration of epilepsy and age at onset of the disorder. These findings demonstrate that patients with epilepsy are more prone to dissociation than controls. The high rate of dissociative experiences among patients with epilepsy suggest that some epilepsy-related factors are present.

RESUMO

RESUMO Poucos estudos exploraram as experiências dissociativas em pacientes com epilepsia. Investigamos as experiências dissociativas em pacientes com epilepsia através da Escala de Experiências Dissociativas (EED). Noventa e oito pacientes com epilepsia e 60 controles saudáveis foram incluídos neste estudo. Um questionário sócio-demográfico, a EED, o Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) e o Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) foram administrados aos participantes. Os valores de EED foram significativamente maiores nos pacientes com epilepsia em relação aos controles saudáveis. O número de indivíduos com doença dissociativa (EED ≥ 30) foi maior no grupo de epilepsia (n = 28) todo que no grupo controle (n = 8). Além disto, altos níveis de dissociação estavam associados à frequência de crises epilépticas, mas não à duração da epilepsia ou idade de início da doença. Estes achados demonstram que pacientes com epilepsia são maus susceptíveis à dissociação do que os controles. O alto índice de experiências dissociativas entre os pacientes com epilepsia sugere que alguns fatores específicos da epilepsia possam estar relacionados aos achados.