THE EFFECTS OF SEIZURE TYPE, LEVEL OF SEIZURE CONTROL, AND ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS ON MEMORY AND ATTENTION SKILLS IN CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY

Memory and attention skills were assessed in 84 children with epilepsy who had no documented learning or behavioral disorders. Seizure type, level of control, and antiepileptic drug effects were examined in rel ation to their influence on memory and attention function. For the ent ire sample, verbal and visual memory skills were found to be within th e average range. However, subtle problems with attentional skills were noted. Two-way analyses of variance, based on seizure type by level o f control, did not indicate significant group differences in memory an d attention skills between children with complex partial versus absenc e seizures. Children with uncontrolled seizures had more difficulty wi th recall of complex verbal information. A notable finding was that ch ildren on polytherapy had significantly lower verbal and visual memory scores than children on monotherapy. Results suggest that children wi th epilepsy, without learning or behavioral disorders, have intact mem ory skills but may have subtle difficulties with attention. These chil dren would benefit from repetition of information, whereas children on polytherapy need to be more closely monitored due to increased risk f or problems with memory and attention skills.