Relationship Between Medication Adherence and Prospective Memory in Individuals with Epilepsy

Abstract

Objective: Epilepsy is a condition characterized by sudden, recurrent epileptic seizures that occur as a result of abnormal and excessive electrical discharge in cortical neurons and are not triggered by an identifiable event. To date, no study has examined prospective memory and medication adherence in patients with focal and generalized epilepsy. This study aimed to examine medication adherence and prospective memory functions in individuals diagnosed with focal and generalized epilepsy. Methods: In this study, 51 patients diagnosed with focal and 51 with generalized epilepsy at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Faculty of Medicine Epilepsy and Sleep Center were included. In addition to the sociodemographic and clinical data forms, participants were administered the Modified Morisky Scale to evaluate medication adherence and the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire to evaluate prospective memory function. Results: No difference was found between patients diagnosed with focal epilepsy and those with generalized epilepsy in prospective memory functions and medication adherence. Near-significant correlations were found between medication adherence and memory function. Conclusion: More comprehensive studies evaluating cognitive functions and other parameters related to medication adherence simultaneously are required to clarify the relationship between memory and medication adherence in epilepsy.

Keywords

• cognition
• epilepsy
• medication adherence
• memory
• neurophysiology