To determine the prevalence of depression and associated sociodemographic factors and clinical characteristics among adult epilepsy patients attending the neurology clinics at a Tertiary Care hospital in Sri Lanka.

While epilepsy is a common condition encountered in the neurology clinics, depression among patients with epilepsy is also common, globally and in Asian populations, with significant clinical, social and economic implications in terms of health care needs, quality of life and lost work productivity. Yet there is scarcity of data among many Asian countries. No Sri Lankan studies have been published to date.

A descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted on 413 patients with epilepsy currently receiving treatment and follow up at neurology clinics in Teaching Hospital Karapitiya. The exclusion criteria were: age less than 18 years; other neurologic conditions; chronic severe medical illnesses; other psychiatric comorbidities; a history of active cancer in the last five years and current illicit drug use. Consecutive sampling was done of all patients with epilepsy attending the neurology clinics. Data collection instruments consisted of an interviewer administered Sociodemographic and Clinical characteristics questionnaire and  9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a validated screening tool for depression. SPSS software was used for analysis.

The prevalence of depression was 29.8%. Of these, 21.3% had mild depression, 5.6% had moderate depression, 2.2% had moderately severe depression and 0.7% had severe depression. Presence of seizures in last month (p<0.001), having had formal education (p<0.011), ever-married (p<0.009), having had children (p<0.011) were statistically significant associations with the presence of depression among epilepsy patients.

The prevalence of depression in this study population was found to be high compared to the general Sri Lankan population (4.1%). Prompt identification and treatment of psychiatric comorbidities associated with epilepsy can lead to more robust treatment outcomes and effective utilization of the limited healthcare resources in Sri Lanka.