Depressive Symptoms in Older versus Younger People with Epilepsy: Findings from an Integrated Epilepsy Self-Management Clinical Research Dataset

Figures & data

Table 1 Comparison of Baseline Demographic and Clinical Variables Between Older (≥55 Years) and Younger (<55 Years) PWE

Variable	Overall N=935	Younger Group (Age 18–54 years) N=774	Older Group (Age ≥55 years) N=161	p-value
Age — Mean (SD)	39.1 (14.7)	34.4 (11.3)	61.5 (5.2)	<0.001^d
Female — N (%)	557 (60%)	308 (40.1%)	64 (39.8%)	0.934^a, †
White — N (%) African-American — N (%)	608 (74.1%) 147 (17.9%)	499 (73.6%) 123 (18.1%)	109 (76.2%) 24 (16.8%)	0.792^a
≤High School Education — N (%)	234 (29.8%)	193 (30.8%)	41 (25.8%)	0.214^a
Some College — N (%)	551 (70.2%)	433 (69.2%)	118 (74.2%)
Income: <US $25,000 — N (%)	273 (54.9%)	221 (56.1%)	52 (50.5%)	0.260^a
Income: US $25,000–$49,999 — N (%)	76 (15.3%)	55 (14%)	21 (20.4%)
Income: ≥US $50,000 — N (%)	148 (29.8%)	118 (29.9%)	30 (29.1%)
Married or co-habiting	191 (35.4%)	144 (32.9%)	47 (46.1%)	0.012^a
Seizure count in last 30 days— Mean (SD)	5.1 (21.1)	5.4 (22.5)	4.2 (15)	0.055^c
Proportion of individuals with no seizure in last 30 days (n=639)	240 (37.6%)	181 (35.4%)	59 (46.1%)	0.032^a
QOLIE-10 Mean (SD)	2.9 (0.8)	2.9 (0.8)	2.7 (0.9)	0.041^d
Total ESMS — Mean (SD)	3.7 (0.4)	3.7 (0.4)	3.8 (0.4)	0.098^d
PHQ-9 Total — Mean (SD)	9.4 (6.6)	9.5 (6.7)	8.5 (6.3)	0.07^d
PHQ-9 suicidality item Mean (SD)	0.31 (0.75)	0.32 (0.77)	0.27 (0.69)	0.429^d
No/Mild Depression — N (%) Moderate to Severe Depression — N (%)	535 (57.2%) 400 (42.8%)	431 (55.7%) 343 (44.3%)	104 (64.6%) 57 (35.4%)	0.038^a

Notes: ^aChi-square; ^bFisher’s exact test; ^cWilcoxon Rank sum test; ^dindependent samples t-test. ^† Racial comparisons: white, African-American, other. ESMS, Epilepsy Self-Management Scale ranges from 1 to 5, and higher scores indicate greater frequency of self-management behaviors. No/mild depression: PHQ-9<10; Moderate to severe depression: PHQ-9≥10. Lower scores indicate better quality of life.

Abbreviations: PHQ-9, Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item Version; QOLIE-10, 10-item Quality of Life in Epilepsy.

Table 2 Comparison of Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Older (≥55 Years) vs Younger (<55 Years) People with Epilepsy and Clinically Signification Depressive Symptom Severity as Defined by Established Cut-Points on the PHQ-9

Variable	Younger Group Age <55 Years				Older Group Age ≥55 Years
	Overall N=774	No/Mild Depression N=431	Moderate-Severe Depression N=343	p-value	Overall N=161	No/Mild depression N=104	Moderate-Severe Depression N=57	p-value
Age — Mean (SD)	34.4 (11.3)	33.4 (11.7)	35.7 (10.7)	0.005^a	61.5 (5.2)	62.1 (5.4)	60.4 (4.7)	0.047^a
Female — N (%)	460 (59.9%)	253 (59.1%)	207 (60.9%)	0.619^b	97 (60.2%)	67 (64.4%)	30 (52.6%)	0.144^b
White — N (%)	499 (73.6%)	292 (75.1%)	207 (71.6%)	0.297^b	109 (76.2%)	69 (74.2%)	40 (80%)	0.229^b
African-American — N (%)	123 (18.1%)	63 (16.2%)	60 (20.8%)		24 (16.8%)	15 (16.1%)	9 (18%)
≤High School Education — N (%)	193 (30.8%)	79 (23.1%)	114 (40.1%)	<0.001^b	41 (25.8%)	22 (21.4%)	19 (33.9%)	0.084^b
Some College —N (%)	433 (69.2%)	263 (76.9%)	170 (59.9%)		118 (74.2%)	81 (78.6%)	37 (66.1%)
Income: <US $25,000 —N (%)	221 (56.1%)	110 (47%)	111 (69.4%)	<0.001^b	52 (50.5%)	35 (49.3%)	17 (53.1%)	0.500^b
Income: US $25,000–$49,999 —N (%)	55 (14%)	36 (15.4%)	19 (11.9%)		21 (20.4%)	13 (18.3%)	8 (25%)
Income ≥US $50,000 — N (%)	118 (29.9%)	88 (37.6%)	30 (18.8%)		30 (29.1%)	23 (32.4%)	7 (21.9%)
Married or co-habiting	144 (32.9%)	83 (35.5%)	61 (29.9%)	0.216^b	47 (46.1%)	31 (53.4%)	16 (36.4%)	0.086^b
Seizure count in last 30days— Mean (SD)	5.4 (22.5)	2.4 (8)	7.8 (29)	0.001^c	4.2 (15)	2.7 (10.2)	7 (21.1)	0.447^c
Proportion of individuals with no seizure in last 30 days – N (%)	181 (35.4%)	117 (22.9%)	64 (12.5%)	0.256^b	59 (46.1%)	42 (32.81%)	17 (48.6%)	0.843^b
QOLIE-10 — Mean (SD)	2.9 (0.8)	2.5 (0.6)	3.5 (0.6)	<0.001^a	2.7 (0.9)	2.4 (0.8)	3.4 (0.7)	<0.001^a
Total ESMS — Mean (SD)	3.7 (0.4)	3.7 (0.4)	3.6 (0.4)	0.248^a	3.8 (0.4)	3.8 (0.4)	3.8 (0.5)	0.891^a
ESMS Lifestyle — Mean (SD)	3.1 (0.7)	3.3 (0.7)	2.9 (0.7)	<0.001^a	3.4 (0.7)	3.4 (0.5)	3.4 (0.8)	0. 795^a
ESMS Medication — Mean (SD)	4.3 (0.6)	4.4 (0.5)	4.2 (0.6)	0.018^a	4.5 (0.4)	4.6 (0.4)	4.5 (0.4)	0.443^a
ESMS Seizure — Mean (SD)	4.2 (0.6)	4.2 (0.6)	4.3 (0.6)	0.565^a	4.2 (0.6)	4 (0.7)	4.4 (0.4)	0.061^a
ESMS Safety — Mean (SD)	4 (0.6)	3.9 (0.6)	4.1 (0.5)	0.008^a	4.1 (0.6)	4.1 (0.6)	4.1 (0.6)	0.902^a

Notes: ^aIndependent samples t-test; ^bChi-square; ^cWilcoxon Rank sum test. ESMS, Epilepsy Self-Management Scale ranges from 1 to 5, and higher scores indicate greater frequency of self-management behaviors. No depression: PHQ9<10; and moderate-severe depression: PHQ9≥10. Lower scores indicate better quality of life.

Abbreviations: PHQ-9, Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item Version; QOLIE-10, 10-item Quality of Life in Epilepsy.