RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLYTHERAPY DUE TO MEMORY IMPAIRMENT IN CHILDHOOD EPILEPSY PATIENTS

Background: Memory impairment is a negative impact that often occurs in childhood epilepsy patients. Memory impairment affects cognitive function and reduce their quality of life. The incidence of memory impairment is ranging from 20 to 50% of childhood epilepsy. Polytherapy is a factor may affect memory impairment in childhood epilepsy patients. Objective: To know relationship between polytherapy and memory impairment in childhood epilepsy patients. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed in outpatient pediatric neurology division at Haji Adam Malik tertiary hospital Medan between October until November 2017. Characteristics and therapy of epilepsy were obtained from parents interviewed and medical records. Epilepsy were diagnosed from clinical symptoms and electroencephalogram test. Memory test was performed with multiple subtests of Wechsler Intellegence Scale for Children-IV. Results: There were 6 children (85.7%) from 7 children with polytherapy who had memory impairment, where all of them have interference at the examination of concentration subtest. The polytherapy has a relationship to the memory impairment in childhood epilepsy with PR= 3.995 (p= 0.032). Conclusion: This study showed that the polytherapy has a relationship to the memory impairment in childhood epilepsy patients.