Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is a common symptom reported in epilepsy. The effect of fatigue on cognitive functions in patients with epilepsy (PWE) is unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between fatigue and cognitive functions in PWE. METHODS: Thirty-three PWE and twenty-two healthy controls participated in the study. Psychological examinations (Fatigue Impact Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Quality of Life) and cognitive tests (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Serial Digit Learning Test, Stroop Test, Raven's Progressive Matrices Test) were administered to the participants. RESULTS: The results revealed that fatigue scores were significantly higher in PWE compared to the control group (p< .001). Fatigue was found to be associated with anxiety (p<.001), depression (p<.001) and quality of life (p<.05). The results demonstrated a significant difference between the groups in terms of Raven scores (p<.001), and a significant correlation between fatigue and Raven scores in the general epilepsy group (p<.001). Fatigue was found to be correlated with Stroop Test (p<.05) and Raven's Test in the focal epilepsy group (p<.001). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, PWE experience higher levels of fatigue compared to healthy controls and this fatigue has a relationship with visuospatial perception. Fatigue is also associated with attention and visuospatial perception in patients with focal epilepsy. However, it remains unclear whether cognitive impairments are a direct consequence of fatigue or whether cognitive impairments contribute to fatigue.