ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorder is the most prevalent comorbidity that may persist chronically in individuals with epilepsy. Unfortunately, anxiety is commonly ignored and rarely reported by epileptic patient. Therefore, early intervention and proper treatment should be addressed in these people. Acknowledging risk factors related to anxiety among epileptic patients may be useful in tailoring more appropriate psychiatric support. AIM: The aim of our study is to investigate risk factors related to anxiety among epileptic patients. METHOD(S): This cross-sectional predictive analytical multivariate study was conducted through March to May 2021 in Haji Adam Malik General Hospital Medan involving 84 epileptic patients visiting Neurology outpatient clinic who fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria COVID-19 health protocols. Anxiety score was assessed using HADS-A self-reported questionnaire. RESULT(S): We found that most of our patients are female who have experienced epilepsy for around 3 years. Exacerbations occurs approximately 4 times a year with duration of 10-20 min. Finally, we found that age, seizure duration, epileptic frequency, and gender are independent risk factors for anxiety severity among epileptic patients. CONCLUSION(S): Age, seizure duration, epileptic frequency, and gender are independent risk factors for anxiety severity among epileptic patients. Copyright © 2022 Hanny Soraya, Mustafa M. Amin, Muhammad Surya Husada, Elmeida Effendy.