The relationship between fatigue and depression, and event-related potentials in epileptics

The aim of the present study was to establish the rate of fatigue and the relationship between fatigue, depression, and P300 in people with epilepsy. We compared Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores and event-related potentials (ERPs) of people with epilepsy (n = 73) with those of controls (n = 31). The rate of fatigue was found to be 42.4%, and fatigue and depression were positively correlated. There was an interaction between fatigue and ERPs, but the effect of ERPs on fatigue was greater. While polytherapy was a major factor affecting ERPs, depression had no effect on ERPs in people with epilepsy. The data suggest that fatigue is an important finding and is strongly correlated with cognitive processes and depression. Polytherapy contributed to cognitive disturbances and, hence, fatigue, whereas depression had no effect on cognitive processes in people with epilepsy.