Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric patients with epilepsy in Jordan: The caregiver perspective.
Seizure
; 92: 100-105, 2021 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1373265
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted care systems around the world. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the care of pediatric patients with epilepsy in Jordan. Potential predictors for seizure control during COVID-19 outbreaks were investigated.METHODS:
A cross- sectional survey was conducted on pediatric patients with epilepsy in Jordan, between January and February 2021, via online questionnaires. The collected data included demographic information, epilepsy-related characteristics, views of caregivers and changes in seizure control during COVID-19 outbreak.RESULTS:
A total number of 672 subjects were screened, 276 were eligible, and 154 completed the questionnaire adequately. Two thirds of caregivers (66.2%) reported that the COVID -19 outbreaks prevented their child from getting proper epilepsy care and 28.6% reported difficulty giving the drugs to their child on time because of loss of daily routine. In addition, more than half (55.8%) reported difficulty obtaining antiseizure medicines (ASMs). On the other hand, 77.3% of caregivers reported that seizure status remained unchanged or improved for their children during the COVID-19 and 22.7% reported worsened seizure control. The number of antiseizure medicines taken by patients (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.032), residency area (p = 0.013) and the difficulty in giving the medicine during COVID-19 pandemic (p = 0.002) were the major factors influencing the seizure worsening experienced by patients.CONCLUSION:
Almost one of every five patients reported worsened seizure control during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Jordan. Moreover, two thirds of caregivers reported poor epilepsy care. This finding highlights the need to implement organized and efficient telemedicine programs devoted to epilepsy care.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Epilepsy
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Seizure
Journal subject:
Neurology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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