P-EP021. Impact of COVID-19 on people with epilepsy: Understanding their needs

Yi Koh, May Lim Kheng-Seang Fong Si-Lei Bao Khor Si Tan Chong-Tin

Introduction. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) resulted in unprecedented loss of access to healthcare in Malaysia. This study aimed to identify the impact of COVID-19 on people with epilepsy (PWE) in terms of their clinical, logistics and psychological aspects. Methods. This is a cross-sectional anonymized web-based study on PWE in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and Malaysia Epilepsy Society. An online questionnaire was used to assess the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 to the epilepsy patients, including Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) and Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE- 31). Results. 461 patients were included in this study, with a mean age of 39.21±15.88 years, majority female (50.1%), with focal epilepsy (54.0%), and experienced seizures at least once yearly (62.5%). There were 11.1% reported increased seizure frequency during COVID period. The associated factors of increased seizure frequency during COVID period included focal seizures, baseline seizures frequency >1 per month, unemployed status, lower education, and precipitating factors such as inadequate sleep and stress. There were 30.2% worried of seizure worsening due to difficulty in re-scheduling clinic appointments, 28.9% were afraid of going to the emergency unit, 11.5% had self-adjusted medication dosages to avoid running out of supply. A significant number experienced anxiety (27.6%) and depression (18.8%), which were correlated with poorer quality of life (p = 0.01). Conclusion. This study highlights the clinical and psychological impacts of the COVID-19 on PWE in Malaysia.