Gender-specific psychosocial outcome for women with epilepsy

The objective of the study described here was to compare gender-specific differences of the personal impact of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We interviewed consecutive men and women with JME or TLE attending a tertiary epilepsy center to characterize their clinical and psychological profiles and details of employment and marriage. We recruited 150 persons with JME (74 males) and 150 with TLE (80 males). There were no gender-specific differences between men and women with respect to age at onset or semiology or frequency of seizures. Antiepileptic drug usage was comparable for both sexes except that fewer women with JME were prescribed valproate. Comorbidities, lower employment, and higher anxiety state were more frequent for women with epilepsy than for men with epilepsy. Females had more difficulty finding life partners compared with males. Women with epilepsy were at increased risk of divorce. Women with epilepsy have more problems with, marriage, mood, and employment as compared with men, even when the clinical profiles of their epilepsy syndromes are comparable. (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.