The effect of virtual learning on seizure control among epilepsy patients in Saudi Arabia

Alharbi, B.; Almaghrabi, M.; Alkhotani, A.; Iskandar, M.; Alshehri, W.; Baashar, D.; Alnemari, A.

Background and aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in multiple precautions to control the infection. One of which is transforming student’s schools into virtual classrooms. This study aimed to determine the effect of virtual learning in seizure control among epilepsy patients. Methods: This is an online-based cross-sectional study that performed between 17 February and 27 June 2021 among patients with epilepsy who attend virtual learning classes. We included all patients aged between 12 and 30 years and living in KSA. Results: A total number of 70 patients were included in the study. The participants’ gender was nearly equally distributed between the two groups with females predominant (51%). Before the pandemic of COVID-19, only seven patients reported an average number of times of seizures experienced per year, while during the pandemic of COVID-19, the number were increased to 14 patients. More than have of the patients reported an increased levels of anxiety and stress due to the pandemic (43, 61.4%), and forty patients have complained of sleep disturbances due to the pandemic of COVID-19 (57.1%). Conclusions: Virtual learning has increased the seizure frequency in a subset of patients with photosensitive epilepsy as they are spending more time on devices.