COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS IN PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY IN BENIN IN 2021

Résumé

Objective: To determine the frequency and factors associated with cognitive impairment in people with epilepsy in Benin in 2021.

Methods: This was a multi-centric descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study with data collection over 5 months from April 1 to August 31, 2021, in consenting people with epilepsy aged at least 15 years with diagnosis of epilepsy based on ILAE criteria. Sampling was nonprobability with systematic recruitment of all people with epilepsy meeting the inclusion criteria. Cognitive assessment was performed by a neurologist with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and cognitive impairment was suspected in patients with a score below 26. Associated factors were determined after multivariate analysis.

Results: A total of 70 people with epilepsy were included, 50 of whom were men (sex ratio 2.5). The mean age was 32.4 ± 14.6 years with extremes of 15 and 69 years and the educational level was secondary in 42.9%. The frequency of cognitive impairments was 74.29%, of which 58.57% were mild cognitive impairments, 17.3% moderate and 2.86% severe. All cognitive domains were affected, with respective impairment of semantic memory (96.15%), attention and calculation (63.46%), language rehearsal and verbal fluency (61.54%), abstraction/executive function (59.61%), visual-spatial functions/praxis (53.85%), naming/language (40.38%) and orientation (17.30%). In multivariate analysis, seizure type was the only factor associated with cognitive impairment p=0.031; RP = 2.2006; CI95% [1.0736 - 4.5107].

Conclusion: Cognitive impairments are frequent in people with epilepsy. Their systematic screening and management at diagnosis and during the course of the epileptic disease could improve life quality of people with epilepsy.