Youth and Family Perspectives on Diagnosis Communication About Pediatric Functional Seizures: A Qualitative Study.

Background: This study aims to understand diagnosis communication experiences and preferences of youths with functional seizures and their parents.

Methods: Semistructured interviews with youths and their parents from a tertiary care children's hospital were conducted separately. We confirmed the diagnosis of functional seizures with the youth's treating providers.

Psychiatric Comorbidities in Women Veterans with Epilepsy.

Women Veterans with epilepsy (WVE) may have unique psychiatric comorbidities that affect presentation, treatment, and outcomes. This large, nationally representative study of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients explores sex differences in psychiatric diagnoses and treatment to better characterize WVE. This study included a retrospective cohort design utilizing VHA Corporate Data Warehouse administrative data.

Role of Deployment History on the Association Between Epilepsy and Traumatic Brain Injury in Post-9/11 Era US Veterans.

Background And Objectives: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a well-established epilepsy risk factor and is common among service members. Deployment-related TBI, where combat/blast may be more common, may have different outcomes than nondeployment-related TBI. This work examined associations of all TBI exposures (not just combat), and epilepsy, while adjusting for comorbidities associated with epilepsy, among veterans by deployment status.

The neuropsychological presentation of women with epilepsy: Clinical considerations and future directions.

Cognitive, mood, and behavioral changes are common among persons with epilepsy (PWE), resulting in a complex neuropsychological presentation. Women with epilepsy (WWE) represent a distinct cohort within the broader epilepsy population due to sex and gender-specific factors impacting epilepsy semiology and treatment. However, unique neuropsychological profiles among WWE have not been established.

Co-production of online educational resources for adolescent and young adult females with epilepsy.

Objective: To develop online patient education materials about epilepsy for adolescent and young adult females with epilepsy through co-production in partnership with patients, parents or caregivers, and multi-disciplinary healthcare providers who care for this population.

Methods: We recruited participants from Western/Central Pennsylvania, comprised of females with epilepsy ages 18-26 or parents of children with epilepsy ages 12-26. Healthcare providers who participated in the study were recruited nationally from disciplines of pediatric epilepsy, adult epilepsy, women's neurology, and adolescent medicine.

Comorbidity and polypharmacy impact neurobehavioral symptoms and symptom validity failure among post-9/11 veterans with mild traumatic brain injury.

Objective: The study aimed to examine the association between post-concussive comorbidity burdens [post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and/or headache] and central nervous system (CNS) polypharmacy (five or more concurrent medications) with reported neurobehavioral symptoms and symptom validity screening among post-9/11 veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Setting: Administrative medical record data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were used in the study.

Participants: Post-9/11 veterans with mTBI and at least 2 years of VA care between 2001 and 2019 who had completed the comprehensive traumatic brain injury evaluation (CTBIE) were included in the study.

Prescribing Trends of Antiseizure Drugs in Women Veterans With Epilepsy.

Objective: Antiseizure medications (ASMs) are frequently used for other indications, such as migraine, pain syndromes, and psychiatric disorders. Possible teratogenic effects are therefore of wide concern and the risks imposed by the medications must be weighed against the risk with the disorder treated. It is our objective to update family practitioners on the implications of starting ASM for women with epilepsy during childbearing age.

Veteran perspectives of epilepsy care: Impact of Veteran satisfaction, knowledge, and proactivity.

Objective: Veterans are at elevated risk of epilepsy due to higher rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, little work has examined the extent to which quality of care is associated with key outcomes for Veterans with epilepsy (VWE). This study aimed to examine the impact of quality of care on three outcomes: patients' knowledge of epilepsy self-care, proactive epilepsy self-management, and satisfaction with care.

COVID-19 pandemic experiences among people with epilepsy: Effect on symptoms of co-occurring health conditions and fear of seizure.

Objective: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic profoundly affected people worldwide, but little is known about how it impacted people with epilepsy (PWE). We examined the associations between COVID-19 stressors and health outcomes including increases in other health symptoms and fear of seizure among PWE.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from an online survey that asked about demographic characteristics, health conditions, and potential life stressors during COVID-19.

Utilization of epilepsy care among Women Veterans: A population-based study.

Objective: Higher healthcare utilization in epilepsy correlates with better clinical and quality of life outcomes. Women Veterans with epilepsy (WVE) have unique characteristics that may affect access and utilization of care. This study investigates epilepsy care in WVE, with respect to utilization of outpatient, inpatient, and emergency room care.

Multimodal Quality of Life Assessment in Post-9/11 Veterans With Epilepsy: Impact of Drug Resistance, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Comorbidity.

Background And Objectives: Epilepsy is defined by the occurrence of multiple unprovoked seizures, but quality of life (QOL) in people with epilepsy is determined by multiple factors, in which psychiatric comorbid conditions play a pivotal role. Therefore, understanding the interplay between comorbid conditions and QOL across epilepsy phenotypes is an important step toward improved outcomes. Here, we report the impact of QOL across distinct epilepsy phenotypes in a cohort of post-9/11 veterans with high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Preferences and experiences of women with epilepsy regarding sexual and reproductive healthcare provision.

Rationale: Women with epilepsy (WWE) have unique disease-specific considerations regarding their sexual and reproductive health (SRH), which impact decision-making around pregnancy and contraception. Understanding their perspectives, preferences, and experiences regarding SRH care contributes to optimizing patient-centered clinical practice.

Methods: We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with WWE aged 18-45 years, exploring their SRH care experiences and preferences.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Early Onset Dementia in Post 9-11 Veterans.

Objectives: To assess traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related risks factors for early-onset dementia (EOD).

Background: Younger Post-9/11 Veterans may be at elevated risk for EOD due to high rates of TBI in early/mid adulthood. Few studies have explored the longitudinal relationship between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the emergence of EOD subtypes.

Characterizing women veterans receiving seizure care in the veterans affairs healthcare system.

Objective: The number and proportion of women served by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is rapidly expanding, necessitating better characterization of factors unique to this population. While nascent literature has begun to better characterize women within the broader seizure population, women Veterans remain an understudied sample. To expand our clinical understanding of women with seizures, we assessed demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as psychiatric/military histories in women receiving care from an Epilepsy Center of Excellence within the VA Healthcare System.

Pediatric Neurologists' Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Care for Adolescent and Young Adult Women With Epilepsy and Intellectual Disability.

Objective: To explore perspectives of pediatric neurologists regarding sexual and reproductive health care for adolescent women with epilepsy (WWE) and intellectual disability.

Methods: We interviewed pediatric neurologists regarding sexual and reproductive health for WWE with intellectual disability. We audio-recorded and transcribed interviews and conducted qualitative analysis.

The Military Injuries: Understanding Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Study: Understanding Relationships among Lifetime Traumatic Brain Injury History, Epilepsy, and Quality of Life.

Understanding risk for epilepsy among persons who sustain a mild (mTBI) traumatic brain injury (TBI) is crucial for effective intervention and prevention. However, mTBI is frequently undocumented or poorly documented in health records. Further, health records are non-continuous, such as when persons move through health systems (e.

Breakthrough Seizure Associated With Kratom Use in Patients With Epilepsy.

Purpose Of Review: Kratom (mitragynine) is a commercially available herbal supplement that is gaining popularity in the United States. Kratom is associated with a variety of neurologic effects. This review will discuss kratom's association with seizure through 3 cases and highlight what neurologists should know about kratom's clinical effects and legal status.

A survey of child neurologists about reproductive healthcare for adolescent women with epilepsy.

Objective: To evaluate child neurologists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care for adolescent and young adult women with epilepsy (WWE).

Methods: Child neurologists (including attending physicians, residents, fellows, and advanced practitioners) completed an online survey distributed through subspecialty listservs. We analyzed results using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and logistic regression.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Among Veterans Deployed in Support of Post-9/11 U.S. Conflicts.

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a recognized military service-connected condition. Prior prevalence studies of ALS among U.S.

Clinical and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging Findings in Veterans With Blast Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Objectives: To compare magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) findings from the hippocampal regions of military veterans with blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (blast mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to those with PTSD only; and to examine the relationship of MRSI findings to cognitive and neuromotor impairment.

Methods: 35 military veterans-23 with blast mTBI and PTSD (blast mTBI/PTSD) and 12 with PTSD only participated in the study. Whole plane MRSI data including N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and choline (Ch) were acquired at 7T for the hippocampus.

Epilepsy Among Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans - United States, 2002-2015.

The age-adjusted prevalence of seizure disorder in United States veterans deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts (IAV) is 6.1 per 1,000 persons (1), compared with 7.1 to 10 per 1,000 persons in the general population (2,3).