Understanding enacted and felt stigma in temporal lobe epilepsy.

BACKGROUND

Self-stigma in epilepsy is conceptualized as enacted and felt stigma. Individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) often face challenges that affect their self-perception and social engagement. This study explored the factors contributing to enacted and felt stigma among patients with TLE, considering both objective and subjective cognitive functions alongside biopsychosocial factors as explanatory variables.

METHODS

The analysis included a total of 249 patients: 169 with TLE (90 females, 18-75 years) and with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and 80 with other types of epilepsy (40 females, 18-71 years). Participants underwent video-electroencephalogram, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluations. Information was derived from clinical records and validated psychosocial measures. The dataset was evaluated using a multivariate regression approach.

RESULTS

In the TLE group, enacted and felt stigma were significantly increased by the female sex, longer duration of epilepsy, higher seizure worry, and lower social functioning. Additionally, enacted stigma was significantly enhanced by higher verbal intelligence quotient (IQ; p < 0.01), higher depression (p < 0.05), and poor social support (p < 0.05). The predictors explained 40 % and 37 % of the variance in enacted and felt stigma, respectively (both p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Verbal IQ played a role in enacted stigma, whereas seizure-related worry was closely linked to felt stigma among patients with TLE.