The effect of COVID-19 vaccination on epileptic seizures in patients with epilepsy: A clinical observation in China

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients with epilepsy.

Characteristic	Median	IQR	N	%
Gander, male			45	57.0
Age
<18 years			10	12.7
≥18 years			64	87.3
Epilepsy duration (years)	7.0	8.0
≤5 years			33	41.8
5-10 years			17	21.5
>10 years			29	36.7
History of febrile seizures			7	8.9
Epilepsy etiology
Structural			45	57.0
Infectious			5	6.3
Genetic			4	5.1
Unknown			25	31.6
Seizure type
Focal			67	84.8
Generalized			2	2.5
Unknown			10	12.7
Number of ASMs	1.0	2.0
None			22	27.8
One			37	46.8
≥two types			20	25.3
Seizure frequency pattern
<1/year			16	20.3
>1/year			21	26.6
>1/3 months			9	11.4
>1/month			23	29.1
>1/week			10	12.7
Monthly seizure frequencies	0.5	1.0

ASM: Anti-seizure medication; IQR: interquartile range.

Figure 1. The patterns and their occurrence rate of seizures worsening after vaccination.

The occurrence rate of each pattern of seizures worsening is labeled at the right of the bar.

Table 2. Univariate comparison between the changes of seizures after COVID-19 vaccination.

Characteristic	Stable (N=65)	Worsening (N=14)	Mann-Whitney U test	P
	Median(IQR)	Median(IQR)
Epilepsy duration (year)	7.0 (8.0)	10 (11)	379	0.33
Number of ASMs	1.0 (1.75)	1.0 (1.0)	382	0.32
Monthly seizure frequencies	0.0 (1.0)	1.0 (3.5)	275.5	0.012*

*: The difference was statistically significant.

Table 3. Univariate comparison between the changes of seizures after COVID-19 vaccination.

Characteristic	Stable (N=65, %)	Worsening (N=14, %)	Total（N=79）	χ2	P
Gander, male	37(56.9%)	8(57.1%)	45	0.00	0.99
Age				0.416	0.52
<18 years	7(10.8%)	3(21.4%)	10
≥18 years	58(89.2%)	11(78.6%)	69
Epilepsy duration				1.261	0.56
≤5 years	28(43.1%)	5(35.7%)	33
5-10 years	15(23.1%)	2(14.3%)	17
>10 years	22(33.8%)	7(50.0%)	29
History of febrile seizures	5(7.7%)	2(14.3%)	7	0.072	0.79
Epilepsy etiology				0.768	1.0^a
Structural	37(56.9%)	8(57.1%)	45
Infectious	4(6.2%)	1(7.1%)	5
Genetic	4(6.2%)	0(0.0%)	4
Unknown	20(30.8%)	5(35.7%)	25
Seizure type				0.401	1.0^a
Focal	55(84.6%)	12(85.7%)	67
Generalized	2(3.1%)	0(0.0%)	2
Unknown	8(12.3%)	2(14.3%)	10
Number of ASMs				1.216	0.56
None	17(26.3%)	5(35.7%)	22
One	30(46.2%)	7(50.0%)	39
≥ two types	18(27.7%)	2(14.3%)	20
Seizure frequency pattern				6.409	0.14
<1/year	15(23.1%)	1(7.1%)	16
>1/year	19(29.2%)	2(14.2%)	21
>1/3 months	8(12.3%)	1(7.1%)	9
>1/month	17(26.2%)	6(42.9%)	23
>1/week	6(9.2%)	4(28.6%)	10
Seizure predisposing factor
Improper ASM administration	5(7.7%)	6(42.9%)	11	9.132	0.003*
Disrupted sleep routine	5(7.7%)	5(35.7%)	10	5.843	0.016*
Fatigue	1(1.5%)	2(14.3%)	3	/	0.08^a
Excessive use of electronic products	1(1.5%)	1(7.1%)	2	/	0.33^a
Alcohol or neuro-stimulant beverage consumption	2(3.1%)	1(7.1%)	3	/	0.45^a

a: Fisher Exact test; *: The difference was statistically significant.

Figure 2. Multivariate logistic regression analyses of the factors of seizures worsening after vaccination.