Abstract

RIVAS GRAJALES, Ana María; TOBON GUEVARA, Angélica; RIVAS NIETO, Juan Carlos  and  MIRANDA BASTIDAS, Carlos Alberto. Frequency of Depression in Patients with Epilepsy Treated at Two Health Institutions in Cali, Colombia.. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2010, vol.39, n.4, pp.693-704. ISSN 0034-7450.

Objective: To find the prevalence of depressive symptoms in outpatients with epilepsy treated at the Hospital Psiquiátrico Universitario del Valle (HDPUV) and the Liga Colombiana Contra la Epilepsia (LCCE) between May and June, 2009. Method: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study which included 124 subjects over 18 years. Patients underwent Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Neurological Disorders and Depression Inventory in Epilepsy (NDDI-E), as well as a format for demographic variables. Data analysis was made with Epi Info version 3.4.1. Results: It was found that according to the BDI, 57.3% (IC: 48.1%-66.1%) of the patients were diagnosed with depression, whereas 34.7% of the patients had a diagnosis of severe depressive disorder when the NDDI-E was applied. The explanation to this discrepancy is based on the fact that the inventories measure the severity of depressive symptoms differently. Most of the patients were under pharmacologic treatment. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms have a high prevalence in patients with epilepsy (57.3%), with a varying severity of the symptoms depending on the instrument used for the diagnosis.

Keywords : Depression; epilepsy; comorbidi-ty; psychiatric status rating scales.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )