Skipping anti-epilepsy drugs can have dire results

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with epilepsy who do not take their anti-seizure medications as prescribed could face serious or even fatal consequences, according to a new study.

The findings indicate that when patients take their medications less than 80 percent of the time, they are three times more likely to die than when they stick to their medication plan. Moreover, not taking anti-seizure drugs also greatly increases emergency room visits and the chances of ending up in the hospital.

"These results are concerning since some studies show about 30 percent to 50 percent of people with epilepsy do not take their medication regularly," lead author Dr. Edward Faught, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a statement.

The study, in the medical journal Neurology, involved 33,658 patients whose records were logged into a Medicaid claims database from January 1997 to June 2006.

Medication non-adherence, which was assessed every quarter, was defined as having medication on hand for less than 80 percent of the days in the quarter, the report indicates.

As noted, the chances of dying were markedly higher when people did not take their medication as prescribed. In addition, during periods of non-adherence, rates of emergency department visits were 50 percent higher, hospital admissions were up 86 percent, and fractures occurred at a 21 percent higher rate, than during periods of adherence.

"There are many reasons epileptic patients fail to take their seizure mediations, including cost, side effects, and pregnancy," Faught noted. "But this study suggests that none of those reasons overshadow the threat of death or other problems related to uncontrolled seizures."

SOURCE: Neurology, online June 18, 2008.