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Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that can have profound physical, social and psychological consequences. We aimed to assess the clinical predictors of quality of life of people with epilepsy. We recruited 31 patients suffering from epilepsy in this cross-sectional study. Their clinical profile was recorded. Quality Of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-31) was used to assess quality of life of our patients. Depression was screened by Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory in Epilepsy (NDDI-E). Among all the clinical variables, only seizure frequency significantly correlated with seizure worry (P=0.002), emotional well-being (P=0.026) and social functions (P=0.013) subscales of QOLIE-31. NDDIE score showed a significant negative correlation with all the subscales of QOLIE-31 except medication effects (P=0.993). A significant positive correlation was also noted between seizure frequency and NDDI-E score (r=0.417, P=0.020). Seizure frequency and depression are the most important predictors of quality of life in epilepsy patients. The management of patients with epilepsy should not only be aimed at just preventing seizures but the treating clinicians should also be cognizant about depression which itself can significantly affect the quality of life of patients.

The purpose of this paper is to review the application of a syndromic approach to seizure disorders in intellectual disabilities, in the light of recent advances in research and the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Report on classification in 2010.

The ILAE Report is reviewed with an emphasis on neurodevelopmental seizure disorders, which may present to clinicians working in the field of adult intellectual disability. The advantages of applying a syndromic approach and the difficulties often encountered are also discussed.

Adopting a syndromic approach to seizure disorders in adults with intellectual disability should lead to rational prescribing, appropriate packages of care, and an improvement in the quality of research in this field.

This paper highlights the importance of identifying epilepsy syndromes in adults with intellectual disability, in the light of recent international reports on classification. It is of value to clinicians (particularly psychiatrists and learning disability nurses) practising in the field of epilepsy and intellectual disability.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the training status of staff in care homes for people with intellectual disabilities managed by the non‐health sector in High Wycombe, with regard to administering emergency antiepileptic medication and to identify training needs.

Management of seizures in people with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy comes with its challenges. Although there are clear guidelines for the same, implementing them in the community, especially in the non‐health sector setting, raises the issue of training staff in the administration of emergency antiepileptic medication. A survey was undertaken in response to the varying staff training needs. A short semi‐structured questionnaire was designed and administered over the telephone to the managers of these care homes.

Less than half of the care homes had staff trained to administer emergency antiepileptic medication. The commonest reason cited was their policy of admitting only patients with well controlled seizures. This paper identified the need for staff training and raising awareness amongst relevant healthcare professionals.

The survey highlights the practical difficulties arising in the implementation of national and trust level healthcare policies in the community.

This paper is of value to clinicians working with people with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy, GPs, and staff and management in the care homes in the health and non‐health sectors. It raises questions around delineation of responsibility and communication between various professionals in various levels of care involved in managing people with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy to ensure provision of safe and effective care for this population.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges of assessment and management of psychotic symptoms in a background of intellectual disability (ID) and treatment-resistant epilepsy caused by a genetic syndrome.

Ring chromosome 20 [r(20)] syndrome is characterised by the triad of severe refractory epilepsy, mild to severe ID and behavioural problems. This paper describes the presentation of r(20) syndrome in a young woman with moderate ID and treatment-resistant epilepsy, who experiences psychotic symptoms at times of improved seizure control.

There are several diagnostic possibilities for such a presentation, including psychotic symptoms due to adverse effects of anti-epileptic medications and forced normalisation (alternating psychosis).

This paper advocates judicious use of antipsychotic medication to manage psychotic symptoms, as well as involvement of both patient and close family members throughout all stages of care. It is essential to strike a balance between control of epileptic seizures and psychiatric symptoms, providing an optimal benefit to the patients’ quality of life by meeting their complex needs through a multidisciplinary and multi-agency team input.

Epilepsy is a chronic illness affecting around 50 million people worldwide. Levetiracetam is an effective novel antiepileptic drug but can cause behavioural adverse events. A total of 10-15 per cent people with intellectual disability (ID) already present with Behaviour that Challenges (BtC). Brivaracetam is postulated to have a distinct pharmacological profile compared with levetiracetam which may result in fewer behavioural adverse events.

This paper presents two cases of people with epilepsy and ID being switched from levetiracetam to brivaracetam for reported behaviour adverse events.

The cases support that people with epilepsy and ID who are experiencing behavioural adverse events from levetiracetam can safely be switched to brivaracetam, resulting in significant reductions in BtC and potentially improved seizure control. Nevertheless, these results must be interpreted with caution, as aetiology for BtC in people with ID is often multifactorial.

This is one of the first papers to date, according to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to describe improved behavioural profile in people with ID and epilepsy when switching from levetiracetam to brivaracetam.

The purpose of this paper is to share and report on practice development.

A description of a joint neuropsychiatric clinic, including demographics of patients seen, is provided.

The paper expresses the opinion that the experience of running a joint clinic for complex cases with neurological and psychiatric pathology was professionally rewarding and that clinicians found it a more effective way of delivering care.

This is the first description of such a clinic to the authors' knowledge. Development of similar services may be of value.

This study aims to explore the cultural context of care‐giving amongst South Asian communities caring for a child with intellectual disabilities in the United Kingdom.

In the context of the United Kingdom's Children's Intellectual Disability Services, the study set out to develop a culturally sensitive account of Sikh and Muslim parents' experiences of caring for a child with intellectual disabilities. Focus groups were conducted with parents from Sikh and Muslim support groups who were all accessing intellectual disability services for their children. Transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative technique.

Three master themes emerged from the analysis which were: Making sense of the disability; Feeling let down by services and Looking to the future. These themes reinforce findings from previous research particularly in relation to difficulties when making sense of the disabilities and difficult interactions with services.

The study makes recommendations for service delivery to ethnic minority groups including being aware of intra‐group variations in the interpretations and responses of South Asian parents.

Ultimately, the study makes recommendations for developing culturally sensitive support and interventions for ethnic minority groups which is important given the increase in multi‐ethnic populations in the UK.

Nowadays, quality of life is receiving an increasing attention in all scientific areas. Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare neurological development, affecting mainly females. The congenital disease affects the central nervous system, and is one of the most common causes of severe intellectual disability. The aim of our study is to evaluate the effect of RTT on the quality of life of people who are affected. Both parents of 18 subjects, all female, diagnosed with RTT, took part in the research. Quality of life was assessed using the Italian version of the Impact of Childhood Illness Scale. This scale consists of 30 questions that investigate the effect of illness on children, parents and families. For each question, the parent was asked to rate two variables: frequency and importance. Another questionnaire was administered to obtain medical history, diagnostic and therapeutic data of the persons with RTT. Our data show that RTT has a considerable impact on both the child's development and the entire family. Parents' answers demonstrated that their child's illness had consequences for the child and how the family coped with it. For this reason, attention should be directed at psychological and social aspects, as well as attitudes, manners, reactions and effects such disturbances can have on the entire family.

This article addresses the need for health checks for people with learning disabilities as a proven route to identifying and tackling health inequalities, what health checks should look like (covering physical and mental health) and how they should be followed up, and how practices and primary care trusts (PCTs) can implement health checks, involving people with learning disabilities and family carers and drawing on the expertise of community learning disability teams. Experience from Wales and England of offering health checks is described, and some key learning points are drawn out. In particular we recommend the appointment of a strategic health facilitator to lead the introduction of health checks and to ensure that the results are used to improve the health and health care of the population of people with learning disabilities.