SUICIDE THOUGHTS PREVALENCE IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH EPILEPSY

Abstract

Background/Aims: Review: Suicide is important and high prevalent problem in the world especially in adolescent. And it is one of the dangerous issue for epileptic children and adolescent. Also Epilepsy is a prevalent problem in the world, mostly among children and adolescent. It seems that epi- lepsy is the most common neurological disorder in children and adolescents. They suffer from seizures, traumas and with some degree of dysfunction. Due to epileptic seizures, low quality of life, social and emotional problems and maturing issues, so epileptic children and adolescents are at risk of affection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of suicidal thoughts among epileptic children and adolescents in Herat city of Afghanistan. In addition epilepsy is a high cost disorder, because contin- ues long time and need continuous treatment. In epilepsy treatment both pharmacotherapy & surgery is used. Many authors point to a link between epilepsy and an increased risk of suicide.Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional study using a probability sampling process, by completing questionnaires and direct observation of the subjects during the first five months of 2020 was conducted at neurological center in Herat city.Results: Among the 300 samples, 287 samples have completed the questionnaire (response rate was 95.6%). 92 individual with epilepsy had suicidal thoughts 32%. 56.5% of subjects was male and 43.5% was female. In this study the participants age was (7-18 year), assessment by questionnaire and direct observation was measured.