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.
Keywords: Cognitive dysfunction, epilepsy, fatigue