The relationship of psychiatric comorbidities and symptoms, quality of life, and stigmatization in patients with epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: Research around the frequency of psychiatric diseases and psychosocial consequences caused by seizures and stigmatization in patients with epilepsy is important, in terms of multidimensional evaluation of the condition, increasing quality of life, and controlling the frequency of seizures. This prospective study aimed to evaluate relationship between comorbid psychiatric diseases and clinical and sociodemographic data, patients' quality of life and perceived stigma in patients with epilepsy. METHODS: In this prospective single-center study, we evaluated clinical and demographic data, and characteristics of epilepsy. We used the Symptom Check List 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) as a screening test for psychiatric comorbidities and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) test for patients who had an SCL90-R general symptom index (GSI) score of ≥1. The frequency of psychiatric comorbidities, the association between comorbid psychiatric disorders and quality of life, and the level of stigmatization in patients with epilepsy was assessed using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-10) and Perceived Stigma Scale. RESULTS: SCL90-R GSI scores of ≥1 were found in 122 of 300 patients. Psychiatric comorbidities were found in 24.8% (n = 69) of patients with epilepsy in the MINI test, major depression was found in 16.9 %, (n = 47), and generalized anxiety disorder was the most common (5.7 %, n = 16). The number of anti-seizure medications (p = 0.007), high seizure frequency (p = 0.01), seizure in previous 12 months (p = 0.003), history of epilepsy surgery (p = 0.032) and psychiatric disease (p < 0.001), and high perceived stigma (p < 0.001) and QOLIE-10 (p < 0.001) scores were all correlated with psychiatric comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of our study, an important correlation was determined between psychiatric comorbidities and a history of psychiatric disease, poor quality of life, and high perceived stigma scores in patients with epilepsy. This suggests that screening patients for comorbid psychiatric conditions in epilepsy outpatient clinics is critical, as is establishing a strong collaboration with the psychiatry clinic, to reduce psychosocial issues and the economic burden of stigmatization and improve quality of life.

Validation of the Turkish version of the self-evaluation of negative symptoms scale (SNS).

OBJECTIVES: The Self-Evaluation of Negative Symptoms Scale (SNS) is a self-report scale that evaluates a patient's subjective experience on all five domains of the negative symptoms. This study aimed to present the adaptation and validation study of the Turkish version of SNS(SNS-TR). METHODS: Seventy-five patients and 50 controls were recruited for this study. After the approval of the translation, participants were asked to fill out SNS-TR by themselves. They were interviewed with the Brief Negative Symptoms Scale (BNSS), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS). RESULTS: SNS-TR showed good internal consistency in the reliability analysis with Cronbach's alpha= 0.873. Subscale-total score correlation coefficients were significant (p < 0.01). In the validity analyses, the total and subscale scores of SNS-TR showed positive correlations with the total and subscales of BNSS, with only one exception of BNSS lack of distress subscales. The total score of SNS-TR demonstrated a significant correlation with PANSS-total, PANSS-negative subscale, PANSS-general subscale, and CDSS scores. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable values for the five-factor structure, similar to the original version. CONCLUSION: To conclude, our study indicates that SNS-TR is an easily applicable self-evaluation tool with good psychometric properties for assessing negative symptoms. KEY POINTSSNS is a novel and easily applicable self-report scale for examining negative symptoms in schizophrenia patients, allowing them to evaluate their subjective experience on all five domains of the negative symptoms.It shows good internal consistency (α= 0.873) which is similar to the original version (α = 0.867).Confirmatory factor analysis scores were found in acceptable ranges and SNS-TR confirm the five-factor structure.Using this scale in clinical practice would empower both the physician's examinations and patient participation through treatment and follow-up course.