Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in adolescents warrant “repeated psychiatric examination”.

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Hansen does not report any relevant financial information. In the study you will find all relevant financial information from all other authors.

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According to the results of a nationwide cohort study, adolescents with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures had an increased risk of numerous psychiatric disorders compared to adolescents with epilepsy and healthy controls.

Researchers emphasized the importance of “careful psychiatric assessment” in improving and customizing treatment in patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES).

“Previous research has shown that emotional and adjustment disorders are common in children and adolescents with PNES. However, recent studies indicate the occurrence of a wider range of psychiatric disorders, including neurodevelopmental disorders, ”wrote Dr. Anne Sofie Hansen from the Departments of Psychiatry and Clinical Medicine at Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark and colleagues in Neurology. “Currently, existing studies mainly include adult or small pediatric populations recruited from highly specialized care units, with no large-scale population studies looking at the full range of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents diagnosed with PNES. Therefore, the full range of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with PNES is poorly described and further knowledge is required to qualify multidisciplinary management. “

In the current study, researchers tried to determine the range and risk of psychiatric disorders in childhood PNES. They analyzed data from 384 children and adolescents with validated PNES, 1,152 with epilepsy, and 1,920 with none designated as healthy controls, all of whom were aged 5 to 17 at diagnosis between January 1996 and December 2014. Prevalent psychiatric disorder before the index, defined as the diagnosis date or equivalent date for healthy controls, and incident-related psychiatric disorder 2 years after the index were used as results. The researchers calculated RRs and adapted them to potential confounding factors.

The results showed frequent psychiatric disorders in 39.8% (n = 153) and psychiatric disorders in 39.1% (n = 150) of the children and adolescents with PNES. Patients with PNES were at increased risk of psychiatric disorders in both the prevalence and diagnosis of incidents compared to patients with epilepsy and healthy controls. Numerous specific psychiatric disorders had elevated RRs, with adjustment disorders (17.5%), somatic symptoms and related disorders (12.5%), neurodevelopmental disorders (11.5%), emotional disorders (10.7%), and intellectual disabilities ( 6.8%) most common were widespread psychiatric disorders in people with PNES. The most common disorders in people with PNES were adjustment disorders (12.5%), emotional disorders (9.9%), somatic symptom disorders (9.1%), psychotic disorders (7.4%), and neurodevelopmental disorders (6.5%) ).

“This study provides evidence that childhood PNES is associated with a wide range of psychiatric disorders, underscoring the need for careful psychiatric assessment to optimize and personalize the treatment plan,” wrote Hansen and colleagues. “The high risk [for] Post-diagnosis psychiatric disorders indicate the need for systematic follow-up with repeated psychiatric assessment to ensure continued adequacy of the treatment offered. “

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