ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between the impairment of empathy and anxiety and depression in patients with epilepsy. MethodsAll the patients were collected in the Neurology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of DaLian Medical University from March 2015 to January 2016, included 93 cases of adult patients with epilepsy and 100 cases of normal control group, all of them were given the test of HAMA, HAMD, MoCA and IRI-C.To analyze the relationship between the ability of empathy and anxiety and depression in patients with epilepsy, in the difference seizure type, frequency and duration of onset. Results1.Compared with the control group, the patients with epilepsy showed impaired ability of dissociative empathy, which was impaired cognitive empathy and emotional empathy, anxiety and depression were also significantly higher than those in the control group, the difference was significant.2.Different types:2.1 GTCS:cognitive empathy:no GTCS, pure GTCS group, SGS group, there were no significant differences between the three groups of empathy scores, emotional empathy, the SGS group had decrease in cognitive empathy with no GTCS, anxiety and depression more serious.There was no difference in cognitive empathy between the SGS group and the pure GTCS group, but the anxiety and depression of the SGS group were significantly serious than those of the pure GTCS group.There was no significant difference between no GTCG group and GTCS group in cognitive empathy, anxiety and depression.There was a significant negative correlation between emotional empathy and anxiety and depression in group SGS.There was no correlation between GTCS and pure GTCS group scores and anxiety depression.2.2CPS:CPS group were worse than those of the non CPS group, and the anxiety and depression were higher than those of the non CPS group.The total score of empathy, emotional empathy and anxiety and depression were significantly negatively correlated.There was no correlation in non CPS group.3.Different seizure frequency:high frequency group empathy scores, cognitive empathy lower in low frequency, anxiety and depression is more serious; empathy and anxiety and depression emotion has showed a significant negative correlation, no correlation between empathy scores, cognitive empathy and anxiety and depression.There was no correlation between empathy scores, cognitive empathy, emotional empathy and anxiety and depression.4.Different onset period:>5 years, empathy scores, cognitive empathy were lower than ≤5 years group and anxiety depression was more serious; emotional empathy and anxiety and depression was negatively related, no correlation between empathy score and cognitive empathy and anxiety and depression. ConclusionsEmpathy ability, cognitive empathy injury, emotional empathy retention declined in adult patients with epilepsy.Anxiety and depression were more severe in adult patients with epilepsy.There is negatively correlated in emotional empathy and anxiety and depression in patients with epilepsy, the scores of cognitive empathy and anxiety and depression have no correlation.The types of epilepsy, seizure frequency, age of onset is associated with cognitive empathy and anxiety and depression in epilepsy, and affect the correlation between empathy and anxiety and depression.
Objective To explore the damage, damage model and influence factors of the empathy ability on patients with epilepsy by the Chinese version of interpersonal reaction index scale (IRI-C). Methods Eighty-eight non-symptomatic epilepsy patients who were from the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University and 100 healthy controls were included in the study from March 2015 to January 2016. Patients with serious cognitive impairment and severe anxiety or depression were ruled out through neural psychology background screening (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Hamilton anxiety and depression scale) due to their influence on empathy scores. Thereafter the empathy ability was compared between epilepsy patients and healthy controls using the IRI-C, and the effect of seizure type on empathy ability was analyzed. According to the epileptic seizure types of generalized tonic-clonic seizure (GTCS), patients were divided into 3 groups: non-GTCS group (simple or complex partial seizure, n=17), pure GTCS group (only primary GTCS attack, n=23) and SGS group (partial onset secondary GTCS,n=48). The control group included 100 healthy participants. In order to ensure the balance of sample size, 30 samples are randomly selected from SGS and control groups respectively for statistical analysis. Then patients were divided in two groups according to whether he/she has complex partial seizure (CPS), and 30 patients in each group. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS18.0 software package. Results ① The total IRI-C Empathy scores, Cognitive empathy (CE) and two factors of the patients in epilepsy group were lower than those in control group (P<0.05), while there was no statistical difference in Emotional Empathy (EE) and two factors between groups (P>0.05). ②ANOVA showed the points of CE (include two factors) and total scores of empathy mean different between the four groups (P<0.05), and EE (include two factors) scores were no statistically significant differences between the four groups (P>0.05). The CE scores were differences between the GTCS group, pure GTCS group and SGS group. The scores of the perspective-taking was statistically significant differences (P<0.05) between the pure GTCS group and the SGS group. The scores of perspective-taking of SGS group were lower than the other groups (P<0.05) . In other words, the scores of the perspective-taking of SGS group were lower than those of the other three groups, and the CE scores were lower than the GTCS group and the control group. ③ The opinion selection, imagination, CE and total empathy score of CPS group were all worse than that of non-CPS group (P<0.05). Conclusions The empathy ability of epilepsy patientswere impaired in CE, but reserved in EE Epileptic subtype CPS and GTCS were risk factors of the decline in empathy ability in epilepsy patients.