Validity of the Liverpool Adverse Events Profile as a Screening Tool for Detecting Comorbid Depression or Anxiety Disorder in People with Epilepsy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Liverpool adverse events profile (LAEP) is useful for detecting and monitoring the adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and contains items related to symptoms of depression or anxiety. This study evaluated the usefulness of the LAEP for detecting comorbid depression or anxiety disorder in people with epilepsy (PWE).

METHODS

PWE, aged from 18 to 70 years and who took AEDs for at least 1 year, were included. They completed the Korean version of the LAEP (K-LAEP) to detect the adverse effects of AEDs and the mini international neuropsychiatric interview-plus version 5.0.0 (MINI) to identify major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). We validated the K-LAEP as a screening tool for coexisting MDD or GAD in PWE. Receiver operating character (ROC) curve analyses were used to measure the appropriateness of cutoff scores for the total and item K-LAEP scores for detecting MDD or GAD.

RESULTS

The study enrolled 150 PWE. According to the MINI, 30 PWE (20.0%) had MDD and 26 (17.3%) had GAD. Cronbach's α coefficient of the K-LAEP was 0.939. For the total K-LAEP score, cutoff scores of 40 and 43 could detect MDD and GAD, respectively. For the K-LAEP item score, a cutoff of five could detect MDD or GAD.

CONCLUSIONS

The K-LAEP is a valid screening tool for detecting MDD and GAD in PWE. A high LAEP score suggests comorbid psychiatric disorders, which need further specific evaluation.