Patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are more likely to suffer from sleep complaints than are patients with epilepsy according to an analysis conducted by clinicians at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
- 149 patients with PNES and 82 patients with epilepsy completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-10.
- By analyzing item 16 on the Beck Depression Inventory, which looks at changes in sleep patterns, the investigators found that PNES patients were more likely to report moderate to severe changes in sleep patterns, including waking up too early, sleeping less than usual, and having trouble falling back to sleep.
- The sleep complaints were associated with poorer quality of life, suggesting that they need to be addressed more closely in PNES patients.
Latreille V, Baslet G, Sarkis R, et al. Sleep in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: time to raise a red flag. Epilepsy Behav. 2018;86:6-8.
