Gender differences in quality of life and psychiatric comorbidities among persons with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: A single-center cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is the most common idiopathic generalized/genetic epilepsy syndrome. Gender differences are known in clinical presentation, with a well-identified female predilection. We aimed to study gender-based differences in quality of life (QoL) and psychiatric comorbidities among persons with JME. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a teaching hospital in Delhi, India. Persons above 11 years of age with JME diagnosed according to the International League Against Epilepsy criteria established in 2001 were enrolled. QoL assessment was made using Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-Adolescents-48 (QOLIE-AD-48) and Patient-Weighted Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory 31 (QOLIE-31-P) for adolescent and adult patients, respectively. For the assessment of psychiatric comorbidities, participants were administered the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I). Participants who tested positive for psychiatric comorbidities on M.I.N.I subsequently underwent the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 categorization. RESULTS: We enrolled 50 patients with JME. Eighteen (36%) were male and 32 (64%) were female patients. The median age of males at study enrollment was 23.5 (range 15–38) years. The median age of females was 22 (16–48) years. The median QOLIE-31-P score among males was 68.31 (37.13–91.82) and for females was 66.9 (31.7–99.1). The median overall QoL score for males was 65 (25–87.5), which qualified as “fair” QoL. For females, the median overall QoL score was 62.5 (10–87.5) which also qualified as “fair” QoL. No significant difference was noted between genders in QoL (P = 0.723). Among males, 55.5% had psychiatric comorbidity. Of these, two had mild depression and eight had anxiety. Among female patients, 34.4% had comorbid psychiatric issues; 6 had anxiety and 5 had depression. No significant difference was noted between genders (P = 0.9136). CONCLUSION: Persons with JME do not have gender-stratified differences in terms of psychiatric comorbidities and QoL despite differences in exposure to antiseizure medications and other gender-related factors. All persons with JME should be screened for psychiatric comorbidities, specifically anxiety, and depression.