Effectiveness of Rehabilitation for Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients with Epilepsy

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify an effectiveness of rehabilitation for the cognitive dysfunction in patients with epilepsy, and to extract clinical and medical factors related to the cognitive dysfunction of patients with epilepsy. Medical records of 51 patients with symptomatic partial epilepsy were investigated. The cognitive functions were evaluated by Hamamatsu Higher Brain Function Scale (HHBFS). The comparison of the scores in HHBFS between the first evaluation and re-evaluation, the comparison of changes in the scores between the patients with and without the intervention of occupational therapy were made. Multiple regression analysis was performed to extract the factors related to the improvement of the scores in HHBFS. As a result, an improvement of cognitive function in patients with epilepsy was revealed between the first evaluation and re-evaluation, and the more significant improvement was seen in patients with the intervention of occupational therapy than those without in some subscales of HHBFS. Moreover, multiple regression analysis revealed that the factors related to the improvement of cognitive function were discontinuation of the specific antiepileptic drugs and intervention of occupational therapy.