Using patient history to distinguish between patients with non-epileptic and patients with epileptic events

Information obtained during psychological evaluations of 93 patients with epileptic events (EEs) and 63 with nonepileptic events (NEEs) was used to test the relative contributions of multiple risk factors to prediction of NEEs during video/EEG monitoring. The best group of independent predictors of NEEs comprised: (1) age at first spell, (2) symptoms of a psychiatric diagnosis other than anxiety or depression, (3) marital instability, (4) symptoms of an anxiety disorder other than panic disorder, and (5) years of education. Report of childhood abuse or neglect and taking psychotropic medication correlated with most of the other risk factors for NEEs. It may not be necessary to gather data on all of the variables shown to be associated with NEEs. Although there is a high prevalence of risk factors for psychopathology in patients with EEs, it is lower compared with that of patients with NEEs, and patients with EEs are less likely to report multiple risk factors.

Research HighlightsThis study suggests:
► which data collected during an interview best predict non epileptic events (NEE).
► Risk factors that are not reliable predictors of NEEs during video EEG were identified.
► a combination of five specific risk factors most accurately predicts NEEs.
► collecting data on all known risk factors is not necessary for accurate prediction.