THỰC TRẠNG LÂM SÀNG VÀ ĐIỀU TRỊ ĐỘNG KINH TẠI BỆNH VIỆN TÂM THẦN THÀNH PHỐ CẦN THƠ

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy is a chronic disease requiring long-term treatment. Evidence on clinical characteristics and treatment among epilepsy outpatients in psychiatric specialty hospitals remains limited. Objectives: 1. To describe clinical characteristics; 2. To describe treatment status and related issues among epilepsy outpatients at Can Tho Psychiatric Hospital in 2023. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study included 195 outpatients at Can Tho Psychiatric Hospital from July 1 to October 30, 2023. Data were collected from medical records, face-to-face interviews, and clinical examinations and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Patients older than 20 years accounted for 51.3%, and 60.0% were male; education was generally limited to primary and lower-secondary school, and 14.4% were illiterate. Family history of epilepsy was 6.2%, and prior brain disorders were reported in 10.8%. Disease duration longer than 5 years accounted for 44.6%, and 67.2% had at least two seizures per month. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures were most common (44.1%). Continuous medication use was reported by 89.7%, while 10.3% had discontinued medication; 90.0% of them stopped abruptly. The main reasons were frustration with long-term treatment (35.0%) and believing they were cured when seizures ceased (35.0%). Among the 20 patients who had discontinued medication, 80.0% reported seizure recurrence within 6 months and 55.0% reported more severe recurrent seizures. Conclusion: Many patients continued to experience at least two seizures per month. Among those with medication discontinuation, most stopped abruptly and reported recurrence within the first 6 months.