Insomnia is a frequent symptom of depression and vice versa. Both are prevalent in epilepsy and can worsen the course of disease.

To assess relationship of insomnia with depression and anxiety in epilepsy.

Adult patients with all-cause epilepsy diagnoses attending a tertiary epilepsy and sleep centers were interviewed regarding insomnia symptoms. Patients were divided into two groups: with (IG) and without (WIG) insomnia. Depression and anxiety were assessed by Hamilton’s depression (HAMD) and anxiety (HAMA) scales. T-test was used for statistics.

58 patients with epilepsy aged 18-64 (mean age - 33.8, 21 females - 36.2%) were enrolled. Among these patients 31 had insomnia complaints (53.4%). The groups did not differ in terms of mean age: 33.1 for IG and 34.3 for WIG (p>0.05). Mean values for HAMD and HAMA in the groups were as follows: HAMD - 16.3 for IG, 11.04 for WIG; HAMA - 18.3 for IG, 13.4 for WIG. For both scales there was an increase in levels of depression and anxiety for epilepsy patients with insomnia. The difference reached statistical significance for depression (p = 0.004). Anxiety was also numerically more prevalent in IG but this difference was not significant (p = 0.055).

Results of our study show that insomnia is a frequent co-morbidity in epilepsy. We found that depression is more prevalent in patients with concomitant epilepsy and insomnia than in patients without difficulties initiating or maintaining sleep. Anxiety also seems to be more marked in insomniac epilepsy patients but to a lesser degree.