ATTENTION PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN WITH FOCAL EPILEPSY

Objectives: Although most children with epilepsy have normal intellectual ability, there is a high risk of developing learning disorder and both attention and behaviour problems.

Methods: The results of “TP test” of 80 children aged 7–16 years with focal epilepsy were compared with results of 80 healthy school children controls. Then we compared neuropsychological performance on attention test of two groups children with focal epilepsy: those who have the EEG epileptogenic focus in left (L) hemisphere (N=38), and those who have right (R) sided epileptogenic focus (N=42). We compared also, scores on attention testing between two groups children with EEG focus localized temporal (T)(N=36) vs. extratemporal (ExT)(N=44). The effects type of seizures, number of seizures and age at seizure onset were also examined.

Results: We founded statistically significant differences between the results for the experimental and the control group (p<0.001). Group difference has not been founded, when we compared results of T vs. ExT group (p>0.05). Children with focus in right hemisphere scored worse than children with left-sided focus, but there was no statistically significance (p>0.05). Age at seizure onset (below 7 years of age) and complex seizure were related to low performances on TP test, but frequence of seizures was not significant predictor factor.

Conclusion: Children with focal epilepsy have attention problems. There is no significant relationship between EEG focus localization and lateralization and severity of attention impairment. Age at seizure onset and type of seizure are very important predictive factors for cognitive functioning in children with focal epilepsy, including attention, while frequency of seizure is less important factor.