Frequency of depression and its correlation with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics among adult epilepsy patients in neurology clinics at a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka

Background: Depression is a common concern among epilepsy patients and affects individuals globally. This presents substantial clinical, social, and economic ramifications, impacting healthcare requirements, quality of life, and productivity. Despite this, comprehensive data on depression in epilepsy remain scarce for Asia, with no published studies from Sri Lanka.Objective: This study aimed to determine the frequency of depression, and its associated sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, among adult epilepsy patients in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka.Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed at teaching hospital Karapitiya, involving 413 epilepsy patients. Exclusion criteria included individuals under 18 years, presence of other neurological conditions, chronic severe medical ailments, additional psychiatric comorbidities, history of active cancer within the last five years, and current illicit drug use. Consecutive sampling was employed. Data collection utilized an interviewer-administered sociodemographic and clinical characteristics questionnaire, alongside the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.Results: The observed frequency of depression among epilepsy patients attending the clinic was 29.8%. Among those affected, 21.3% exhibited mild depression, 5.6% moderate depression, 2.2% moderately severe depression, and 0.7% reported severe depression. The statistically significant associations with depression among epilepsy patients included recent seizure occurrence (p=0.001), marital status (p=0.009), and parenthood status (p=0.011).Conclusions: The observed frequency of depression among the study population surpassed that in the general Sri Lankan populace (4.1%). Timely identification and management of psychiatric comorbidities linked to epilepsy hold promise for optimising healthcare resource allocation in Sri Lanka.