Stress and epilepsy: A population-based cohort study of epilepsy in parents who lost a child

ObjectiveThe goal of the study described here was to study the risk for epilepsy in parents exposed to severe stress caused by loss of a child.MethodsThe risk of being diagnosed with epilepsy (Danish National Hospital Register) in a cohort of parents who had lost a child under the age of 18 was compared with the risk among parents who had not lost a child.ResultsThe adjusted relative risk (RR) of epilepsy in parents who had lost a child was 1.50 (95% CI: 1.21–1.86). The RR was modified by time since bereavement and was 2.46 (95% CI: 1.49–4.07) in mothers and 1.92 (95% CI: 1.09–3.36) in fathers within the first 3 years of loss of a child, and 2.10 (95% CI: 1.53–2.88) in mothers and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.41–1.06) in fathers 4 to 18 years after loss.ConclusionsStress was associated with a moderately increased risk of being diagnosed with epilepsy.