Disobedience and driving in patients with epilepsy in Greece

- Our aims were to evaluate disobedient drivers in Greece and to identify determinants of disobedience.
- More than 1 out of 3 patients were disobedient regarding driving.
- Male gender increases more than 6 times the risk of disobedience.
- Employment increases more than 4 times the risk of disobedience.
- Fewer antiepileptic drugs are associated independently with disobedience.

ObjectiveRegulations and guidelines regarding driving privileges of patients with epilepsy vary greatly worldwide. The aim of our study was twofold: firstly, to evaluate disobedient drivers in Greece and to elucidate their awareness of the law, emotional responses, and seizure profile and, secondly, to identify determinants of disobedience regarding driving among patients with epilepsy.MethodsAll consecutive patients with epilepsy who visited the epilepsy outpatient clinic of two tertiary epilepsy centers were invited to participate in the study. One hundred ninety patients met our inclusion criteria.ResultsFifty-two percent of our study population was aware of the driving restrictions. More than one out of three patients were disobedient (35.8%). Being a male was associated with a 6.07-fold increase in the odds of being disobedient (95% CI: 2.73-13.47, p < 0.001); being employed was associated with a 4.62-fold increase in the odds of being disobedient (95% CI: 2.20-9.68, p < 0.001); and each extra antiepileptic drug (AED) was associated with a decrease in the odds of disobedience by a factor of 0.41 (95% CI: 0.26-0.63, p < 0.001).ConclusionMale gender, employment, and number of AEDs are important determinants of disobedience regarding driving among patients with epilepsy.