Epilepsy and the risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression

BACKGROUND: Patients with epilepsy experience seizures, which have been reported to increase and worsen during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the association between epilepsy and COVID-19 outcomes remains unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze whether patients with epilepsy have an increased risk of having poor COVID-19 outcomes. METHODS: We comprehensively evaluated potential articles extracted from the medRxiv, Europe PMC, and PubMed databases until June 30, 2021, using selected keywords. All published studies on epilepsy and COVID-19 were selected. We used the Review Manager 5.4 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3 software for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Thirteen studies with 67,131 patients with COVID-19 were included in the analysis. Evaluation of the collated data revealed an association between epilepsy and increased severity of COVID-19 (OR, 1.69; 95%CI: 1.11–2.59; p = 0.010; I(2) = 29%; random-effect modeling) and mortality from COVID-19 (OR, 1.71; 95%CI: 1.14–2.56; p = 0.010; I(2) = 53%; random-effect modeling). The results also showed that the association between epilepsy and increased risk of developing severe COVID-19 is influenced by sex and neurodegenerative disease. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that patients with epilepsy are at risk of having poor COVID-19 outcomes. Patients with epilepsy need special attention and should be prioritized for administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. Registration details: PROSPERO (CRD42021264979).