Associates of stigma in an incident epilepsy population from northern Manhattan, New York City

ObjectiveStigma is associated with prevalent epilepsy, but its association with incident epilepsy is unknown.MethodsWe identified 209 children and adults with incident seizures from the diverse impoverished community of northern Manhattan. We interviewed 94 participants, aged 16 and older, about lifetime history of depression, health status, medical history, and stigma.ResultsAt baseline, 18 (22.5%) participants reported experiencing stigma. Stigma was reported by 9 (50.0%) with depression and 9 (14.5%) without depression (P = 0.002). At 1 year, 7 (8.1%) participants reported experiencing stigma. Stigma was reported by 5 (31.3%) with depression versus 1 (1.6%) without depression (P < 0.0001). At both time points, odds of stigma increased when lifetime history of depression and fair/poor health was present.ConclusionsPrevious work revealed negative effects of prevalent epilepsy on stigma. In the low-income, predominantly Hispanic community of northern Manhattan, we found incident epilepsy was associated with stigma when lifetime history of depression or fair/poor health was present.

Research Highlights
► At epilepsy onset, > 20% experience stigma, consistent with prevalent populations.
► Lifetime history of depression is associated with stigma at epilepsy onset.
► Depression and poor/fair current health increase the odds of stigma 27.0-fold.
► Stigma decreased after 1 year, but association with lifetime depression remained.