HOUSTON — Women Veterans with epilepsy (WVE) might have unique psychiatric comorbidities that affect presentation, treatment and outcomes.
A large, nationally representative study of VHA patients explored sex differences in psychiatric diagnoses and treatment to better characterize WVE. Results were published in the Journal of Women’s Health.1
The retrospective cohort study used VHA Corporate Data Warehouse administrative data from 58,525 veterans with epilepsy (8.5% women). Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. DeBakey VAMC, both in Houston, and colleagues analyzed psychiatric diagnoses and treatment, comparing men with epilepsy to WVE. Secondary analyses included further exploration of select gynecological conditions.
Also participating in the study were researchers from the Epilepsy Centers of Excellence at the VHA in Washington, DC; the Durham, NC, VAMC; and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
Results indicated that WVE had higher psychiatric burden than men. The study team said that was evidenced by higher rates of nearly all psychiatric diagnoses, including:
- depression (59.1% vs. 38.9%; χ2 = 771.6),
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (42.0% vs. 26.5%; χ2 = 549.1), and
- anxiety disorder (44.9% vs. 24.5%; χ2 = 977.7).
WVE also were found to have higher use of psychotropic medication prescriptions (2.3 vs. 1.4 average number of psychotropics prescribed). “Furthermore, higher percentages of women versus men utilized the emergency room for psychiatric purposes (11.7% vs. 6.9%; χ2 = 153.06) and were hospitalized with psychiatric diagnoses (9.8% vs. 6.1%; χ2 = 100.95),” the authors advised.
“Veterans with epilepsy represent a unique group with high rates of psychiatric comorbidity,” the researchers concluded. “These results suggest that among veterans, men and women with epilepsy have differing psychiatric comorbidities, leading to disparate health care needs. Based on this study’s findings, WVE may require a different approach to care, with an increased focus on specialized psychiatric treatment for WVE.”
- Sullivan-Baca E, Rehman R, Lorkiewicz SA, Van Cott AC, Haneef Z. Psychiatric Comorbidities in Women Veterans with Epilepsy. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2024 Jan 3. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2023.0495. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38165659.