Executive functioning and effect of antiepileptic drugs in children with frontal and rolandic epilepsy: Contributions for the development of cognitive stimulation programs

ARROYO, MARÍA JIMENA; ISON, MIRTA SUSANA; BARBOZA, ANDRÉS GUILLERMO

Mendoza

Workshop; Regional Workshop on Investing in Sustainable Childhoods: Implications for Preventive and Intervention Research; 2019

International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD)

Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent chronic neurological disorders in childhood, which has neurobiological, cognitive, psychological and social consequences. Although there is scientific evidence on the influence of this disorder on children´s cognitive development, there are not enough studies to evaluate the impact of different antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on the cognitive control functions of children diagnosed with frontal epilepsy (FE) or Rolandic epilepsy (RE). Objectives: I) To evaluate the performance of executive functions; II) To investigate the class of AEDs, the dose and the time of exposure to the drug; III) To analyze associations between the type of drug, time of exposure, dose and the performance of executive functions. Method: cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study. Participants: 80 children aged between 7 and 12 with a diagnosis of FE or RE in treatment with AEDs. Instruments: Semi-structured interview with parents, Pediatric Epilepsy Medication Self-Management Questionnaire, Executive Functioning Scale for Children, Difference Perception tests (CARAS), Phonological and semantic verbal fluency, Computerized Attentional Performance Test (TAI), Porteus Labyrinth Test, Progressive Matrices Test and CORSI Cubes. This project is in execution, therefore its results are incipient. The findings of this project would provide scientific knowledge about the impact of AEDs on cognitive functioning, a work that has not yet been done in Argentina. Likewise, it would provide the necessary empirical bases for the development of cognitive stimulation programs, in order to prevent or reduce the impact of this medical condition and the AEDs on the expected trajectories of cognitive development.