Living with epilepsy during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions: A longitudinal perspective

The purpose of our study was to explore how people with epilepsy fared during two of the most stringent 4-month society-wide COVID-19-related pandemic restrictions in Ireland, in 2020 and one year later in 2021. This was in the context of their seizure control, lifestyle factors, and access to epilepsy-related healthcare services. A 14-part questionnaire was administered to adults with epilepsy during virtual specialist epilepsy clinics in a University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland at the end of the two lockdowns. People with epilepsy were questioned on their epilepsy control, lifestyle factors, and quality of epilepsy-related medical care, compared to pre-COVID times. The study sample consisted of two separate cohorts of those diagnosed with epilepsy (100 (51.8%) in 2020, and 93 (48.2%) in 2021, with similar baseline characteristics. There was no significant change in seizure control or lifestyle factors from 2020 to 2021, except for deterioration in anti-seizure medication (ASM) adherence in 2021 compared to 2020 (p = 0.028). There was no correlation between ASM adherence and other lifestyle factors. Over the two years, poor seizure control was significantly associated with poor sleep (p < 0.001) and average seizure frequency in a month (p = 0.007). We concluded that there was no significant difference between seizure control or lifestyle factors between the two most stringent lockdowns in Ireland, in 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, people with epilepsy reported that throughout the lockdowns access to services was well maintained, and they felt well supported by their services. Contrary to the popular opinion that COVID lockdowns greatly affected patients with chronic diseases, we found that those with epilepsy attending our service remained largely stable, optimistic, and healthy during this time.