Adherence to Anti-seizure Drugs and Associated Factors among Children with Epilepsy in central Sudan

Abstract

Background: Epilepsies are the most common neurological disorder in children worldwide. They result in disability or even death. Adherence to anti-seizure drugs (ASDs) is challenging for children with epilepsies.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 67 children with epilepsies age between (2-16 years of age) on follow up visits at neurology refer clinic at Wad Medani Pediatric Teaching Hospital; Central Sudan from February to July. 2022. Adherence to ASDs was measured using Morisky’s Medication Adherence Scale eight – items (MMAS-8) translated to the local language. Descriptive analysis was conducted to calculate frequencies and percentages for categorical data, chi-square test for associated factors with adherence. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. 

Results: Gender analysis showed that 36 (53.7%) of patients were males. Forty-eight (71.6%) had good adherence to their medications. Thirty-three (49.3%) had 1-12 seizures/year. Thirty-nine (58.2%) of participants had generalized seizures while 22 (32.8%) had focal seizures. Sixty-six (95.5%) of study patients on poly therapy had good adherences. Adherence was not found to be associated with sex, age, parental education, employment status, ASDs, duration of epilepsy, type of epilepsy, seizures frequency or monotherapy versus poly therapy (p value > 0.05).