芦山地震后6年雅安市城市老年人抑郁症状检出情况及影响因素

目的 了解芦山地震后6年雅安市城市老年人抑郁症状检出率及特点,为灾难性事件后老年人群心理干预提供参考。方法 采取多阶段分层整群随机抽样方法,于2019年3月-4月选取雅安市城市老年人（年龄≥60岁）885名为研究对象,采用自制一般信息调查表收集老年人一般人口学资料、健康状况以及受灾情况,采用老年抑郁量表（GDS-30）评估其抑郁症状。采用单因素和多因素Logistic回归分析城市老年人抑郁症状的影响因素。结果 共回收有效问卷783份,有效问卷回收率为88.47%,检出存在抑郁症状者161例（20.56%）;不同性别、年龄、婚姻状况、家庭关系、家庭人均月收入、身体锻炼情况、健康状况、生活自理情况、睡眠状况、受灾程度的城市老年人抑郁症状检出率比较差异均有统计学意义（P<0.05或0.01）。Logistic回归分析显示,女性（OR=1.552,P=0.040）、家庭人均月收入2000~3000元（OR=6.982,P<0.01）、家庭人均月收入≤2000元（OR=6.857,P<0.01）、无身体锻炼情况（OR=1.693,P<0.01）、生活部分自理（OR=3.838,P<0.01）、生活不能自理（OR=8.547,P<0.01）、多病可治愈（OR=4.892,P<0.01）、久病难治（OR=5.657,P=0.031）的老年人出现抑郁症状的风险较高;相比于离异和丧偶者,已婚老年人出现抑郁症状的风险更低（OR=0.063,P<0.01）。结论 芦山地震后6年雅安市城市老年人抑郁症状检出率较高,其中女性、家庭人均月收入低、无身体锻炼情况、生活不能完全自理、健康状况差为出现抑郁症状的危险因素,已婚为保护因素。     

护士职业紧张、心理资本和失眠的关系：心理资本的中介作用

目的 探讨护士职业紧张、心理资本和失眠的关系,并检验心理资本在护士职业紧张与失眠之间的中介作用。方法 于2021年3月-5月,采用分层随机抽样法选取某三甲医院的810名护士为研究对象。采用付出-回报失衡问卷（ERI）、心理资本量表（PCQ）和阿森斯失眠量表（AIS）分别评定护士的职业紧张、心理资本和失眠情况,采用PROCESS中介效应检验分析心理资本在护士职业紧张与失眠之间的中介作用。结果 回收有效问卷658份（81.23%）,护士付出-回报比与AIS评分呈正相关（r=0.379,P?0.01）,与PCQ评分呈负相关（r=-0.275,P?0.01）;PCQ评分与AIS评分呈负相关（r=-0.402,P?0.01）。护士职业紧张可以负向预测心理资本（β=-11.024,t=-7.324,P<0.01）以及正向预测失眠（β=4.117,t=10.478,P<0.01）;心理资本可负向预测失眠（β=-0.087,t=-9.083,P<0.01）。当心理资本作为中介变量加入时,职业紧张对失眠的预测作用有统计学意义（β=3.158,t=8.185,P<0.01）。结论 心理资本在护士职业紧张和失眠之间起部分中介作用。     

老年白内障患者合并抑郁状况及其自我感受负担的影响

背景 伴抑郁症状的老年白内障患者自我感受负担较重,术后视觉相关生活质量较无抑郁症状的患者更差,家庭负担更重。既往研究多认为家庭关系、视力等是导致老年白内障患者出现抑郁症状的主要因素,自我感受、合并疾病等对老年白内障患者心理状态的影响研究有限。目的 探讨老年白内障患者抑郁症状与自我感受负担和术后视觉相关生活质量的关系,分析患者抑郁症状的危险因素,对其进行针对性的心理干预提供参考。方法 连续纳入2020年7月1日—2022年12月31日在江苏省人民医院（南京医科大学第一附属医院）住院治疗的老年白内障患者104例,采用自编调查问卷收集患者基本资料,采用患者健康问卷抑郁量表（PHQ-9）、自我感受负担量表（SPBS）、25项美国国家眼科研究所视功能问卷（NEI-VFQ-25）评定患者抑郁症状、自我感受负担以及术后视觉相关生活质量水平。采用Pearson相关分析考查伴抑郁症状的老年白内障患者PHQ-9、SPBS、NEI-VFQ-25评分的相关性,采用Logistic回归分析老年白内障患者抑郁症状的影响因素。结果 共100例老年白内障患者完成有效问卷调查,检出31例（31.00%）患者存在抑郁症状。抑郁组SPBS评分高于无抑郁组（t=11.062,P<0.01）,NEI-VFQ-25评分低于无抑郁组（t=-5.235,P<0.01）。Pearson相关分析结果显示,伴抑郁症状的老年白内障患者PHQ-9评分与SPBS评分呈正相关（r=0.485,P<0.01）,与NEI-VFQ-25评分呈负相关（r=-0.440,P<0.01）。合并糖尿病（OR=1.441,P<0.01）、合并骨关节炎（OR=1.324,P<0.05）和高SPBS评分（OR=1.340,P<0.05）是老年白内障患者出现抑郁症状的危险因素。结论 老年白内障患者抑郁症状检出率较高;伴抑郁症状的老年白内障患者术后视觉相关生活质量更低;合并糖尿病、骨关节炎以及自我感受负担较重是老年白内障患者出现抑郁症状的危险因素。     

精神专科医院危重症患者谵妄发生的危险因素：一项回顾性研究

背景 精神科危重症患者谵妄发生率较高,且影响谵妄发生的因素较多。目前针对精神专科医院危重症患者谵妄的流行病学研究有限。目的 探索精神专科医院危重症患者谵妄发生的影响因素,以指导临床对谵妄的管理。方法 回顾性收集2019年1月1日-2021年5月31日在深圳市康宁医院住院的427例危重症患者的谵妄发生情况、性别、年龄、入院前病程（指患者始发急性精神状态变化至登记入住精神专科医院的时间）、精神疾病史、认知功能障碍病史、精神活性物质使用史、镇静催眠药使用史、合并慢性病数、合并用药数以及病种类型等信息。采用单因素Logistic回归分析谵妄发生的可能危险因素,将可能的危险因素纳入多因素Logistic回归分析模型,逐步筛选出精神专科医院危重症患者谵妄发生的危险因素。结果 在427例危重症患者中,143例（33.49%）存在谵妄。多因素Logistic回归分析结果显示,使用精神活性物质所致的精神和行为障碍（OR=8.949,P<0.01）、无精神病病史（OR=4.202,P<0.01）、合并慢性病数（OR=1.249,P<0.01）、年龄（OR=1.031,P<0.01）以及入院前病程（OR=0.942,P<0.01）与谵妄发生相关。结论 在精神专科医院中,约1/3的危重症患者存在谵妄,入院前病程较短、年龄较大、合并慢性疾病数多、无精神疾病史、使用精神活性物质所致的精神和行为障碍是谵妄发生的危险因素。     

血清NGB、BNP水平与颅脑损伤患者伤情严重程度及预后的相关性研究

目的 探究血清神经珠蛋白（NGB）、脑钠肽（BNP）水平与颅脑损伤（TBI）患者伤情严重程度及预后的相关性。方法 以127例TBI患者为研究对象,99例健康志愿者作为对照。利用ELISA法检测血清中的NGB和BNP水平,格拉斯哥预后评分(GOS)判断预后。分析TBI患者治疗前血清中NGB和BNP的含量与TBI程度的关系。结果 末次随访TBI患者预后良好组血清中NGB和BNP的含量低于预后不良组（P<0.05）。TBI患者血清中NGB和BNP的含量与TBI程度成正相关（r=0.705,0.781;P<0.05）,与格拉斯哥昏迷评分（GOS）评分呈负相关（r=-0.886,-0.812;P<0.05）。血清中NGB含量与TBI程度有相关性(OR=1.059,95％CI:1.004~1.325,P=0.030)。ROC曲线结果显示,血清中BNP含量与TBI程度有相关性(OR=1.217,95％CI:1.015～1.377,P=0.020)。结论 血清NGB、BNP水平与TBI患者伤情严重程度及预后康复效果呈正相关。     

新冠肺炎疫情下浏阳市精神疾病患者家属焦虑抑郁情况及影响因素

目的 了解新冠肺炎疫情期间精神疾病患者家属焦虑、抑郁情况及影响因素。方法 采用横断面研究,通过立意抽样和分层抽样的方法,选取2020年3月18日-28日浏阳市精神病医院门诊患者家属116名和住院患者家属111名。采用焦虑自评量表（SAS）、抑郁自评量表（SDS）和自行设计的一般资料问卷进行调查,并对数据进行单因素和多因素Logistic回归分析。结果 共回收问卷239份,其中有效问卷227份,有效问卷回收率为94.98%。检出存在焦虑症状者29人,焦虑检出率为12.78%;检出存在抑郁症状者40人,抑郁检出率为17.62%。Logistic回归分析显示,家属年龄≥60岁（OR=4.454,P=0.041）、睡眠质量评价为中等及以下（OR=17.922、153.728,P<0.01）、患者疫情期间居家休息（OR=5.597,P=0.004）是家属存在焦虑症状的危险因素;睡眠质量评价为中等及以下（OR=7.806、15.105,P<0.01）、受教育程度低（OR=0.137、0.205,P<0.05）、患者疫情期间居家休息（OR=2.868,P=0.022）是家属存在抑郁症状的危险因素。结论 新冠肺炎疫情期间精神疾病患者家属存在一定程度的焦虑、抑郁情绪。其中,年龄≥60岁、睡眠质量不佳、患者居家休息、受教育程度低是家属存在焦虑和抑郁的危险因素。     

中学生一般自我效能感与手机游戏沉迷：时间管理倾向的中介作用

目的 探讨中学生一般自我效能感和手机游戏沉迷之间的关系以及时间管理倾向在其中的中介效应。方法 于2020年11月-2021年2月采用整群抽样法选取江西省和四川省共三所中学的667名中学生为研究对象,采用一般自我效能感量表（GSES）、手机游戏沉迷量表以及青少年时间管理倾向量表（ATMD）对其进行问卷调查。使用Bootstrap方法进行中介效应检验。结果 ①手机游戏沉迷量表总评分与GSES和ATMD总评分均呈负相关（r=-0.122、-0.333,P均<0.01）,ATMD总评分与GSES总评分呈正相关（r=0.536,P<0.01）。②一般自我效能感和时间管理倾向均能负向预测手机游戏沉迷（β=-0.333、-0.122,P均<0.01）,一般自我效能感能够正向预测时间管理倾向（β=0.536,P<0.01）。③时间管理倾向在一般自我效能感和手机游戏沉迷之间起完全中介作用,中介效应量为-0.159（95% CI：-0.213~-0.112,P<0.01）,中介效应占总效应的70.38%。结论 一般自我效能感通过时间管理倾向间接影响手机游戏沉迷。     

医学生焦虑、抑郁情绪对网络游戏障碍的影响：性别的调节作用

目的 探究焦虑、抑郁情绪对医学生网络游戏障碍的影响以及性别在其中的调节效应，为预防和干预医学生网络游戏障碍提供参考。方法 于2021年11月，选取四川省某医学院校11 771名医学生作为研究对象，通过问卷星网络平台，采用焦虑自评量表（SAS）、抑郁自评量表（SDS）和简式网络游戏障碍量表（IGDS9-SF）进行评定，采用多元分层回归分析性别在焦虑、抑郁情绪和网络游戏障碍关系中的调节作用。结果 ①男生SDS评分低于女生（t=-8.302，P<0.01），IGDS9-SF评分高于女生（t=33.384，P<0.01）。②医学生SAS评分与SDS评分呈正相关（r=0.735，P<0.01），SAS和SDS评分与IGDS9-SF评分均呈正相关（r=0.288、0.238，P均<0.01）。③焦虑、抑郁情绪可以正向预测网络游戏障碍（β=0.245、0.058，t=18.864、4.444，P均<0.01）。④性别在焦虑情绪与网络游戏障碍之间具有调节作用（β=-0.194，t=-4.518，P<0.01）。结论 焦虑、抑郁情绪对医学生网络游戏障碍有正向预测作用。焦虑情绪对医学生网络游戏障碍的影响受到性别的调节，相比于女生，焦虑情绪对男生网络游戏障碍的影响更大。     

新冠肺炎疫情压力与社会适应：忍耐和社会支持的中介作用

目的 考察新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情压力对大学生社会适应的影响，以及忍耐和社会支持在其中的中介作用，并比较忍耐与社会支持中介效应的差异。方法 通过整群随机取样选取3 219名大学生，采用COVID-19疫情压力问卷、社会适应能力诊断量表（SAI）、忍耐问卷（PQ）和社会支持评定量表（SSRS）进行评定，应用SPSS的Process插件进行中介效应检验。结果 大学生COVID-19疫情压力问卷评分与PQ和SSRS评分均呈正相关（r=0.297、0.229，P均<0.01），与SAI评分呈负相关（r=-0.430，P<0.01），PQ和SSRS评分与SAI评分均呈正相关（r=0.374、0.283，P均<0.01），PQ与SSRS评分呈正相关（r=0.271，P<0.01）。忍耐在COVID-19疫情压力与社会适应之间具有部分中介作用（β=0.049，95% CI：0.039~0.062），社会支持在COVID-19疫情压力与社会适应之间具有部分中介作用（β=0.016，95% CI：0.009~0.025）。结论 COVID-19疫情压力对大学生社会适应具有负性影响，忍耐和社会支持对此负性作用起缓冲作用，且忍耐的中介效应更明显。     

公安院校学生孤独感对网络偏差行为的影响：一个有调节的中介模型

目的 探讨公安院校学生孤独感、网络成瘾和网络偏差行为之间的关系及其作用机制。方法 于2020年3月，采用整群抽样法抽取四川省某公安院校766名学生为研究对象，采用UCLA孤独感量表（UCLA-LS）、网络依赖诊断量表（DSFIAD）与大学生网络偏差行为问卷进行调查，通过SPSS 20.0进行统计分析，并采用Mplus 8.0进行中介与调节效应检验。结果 ①公安院校男性大学生网络偏差行为问卷评分高于女性（t=7.560，P<0.01）；②公安院校学生UCLA-LS评分与DSFIAD评分呈正相关（r=0.406，P<0.01），网络偏差行为问卷评分与UCLA-LS和DSFIAD评分均呈正相关（r=0.279、0.592，P均<0.01）；③孤独感可以正向预测网络偏差行为（β=0.279，t=9.041，P<0.01）；④网络成瘾在孤独感与网络偏差行为之间起完全中介作用［间接效应=0.233（95% CI：0.190~0.279，P<0.01），间接效应占总效应的83.51%］；⑤“孤独感→网络成瘾→网络偏差行为”这一中介效应的后半段路径（网络成瘾→网络偏差行为）受性别调节（β=-0.192，t=-4.461，P<0.01）。结论 公安院校学生孤独感可以直接影响网络偏差行为，也可以通过网络成瘾间接影响网络偏差行为。孤独感对网络偏差行为的影响是有调节的中介效应，该中介效应仅在男性群体中显著。     

Diagnostic Difficulties and Treatment Implications

Summary: Differentiation between types of epileptic seizures has been aided in recent years by the introduction of intensive neurodiagnostic techniques and the development of increasingly detailed classification systems. Paradoxically, these developments have not simplified the task of matching the appropriate antiepileptic drug to a particular seizure type. It is reasonable to assume that anticonvulsant drugs will have different effects on different types of seizures, but faulty, circular reasoning can enter the picture if one also assumes that responses of seizures to different drugs signify different seizure types. There are several examples of differential diagnoses that can fall prey to this problem, including the diagnosis between partial seizures with secondary generalization and generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the diagnosis between complex partial seizures and absence seizures with automatisms, among others. Considerations of etiology in future classification systems can further complicate the problem: should one then choose an anticonvulsant drug on the basis of individual seizure type or on the basis of the type of epilepsy? Ramifications of this issue extend even to the drug approval process. Official sanction is not given for use of a drug for a seizure type not included in the original efficacy studies, even if later scientific evidence shows that seizure type to be related to a type that is included. New trials must be undertaken. These problems arise from how we choose to classify seizures.     

Cognitive Dysfunction Associated with Antiepileptic Drug Therapy

Summary: Epilepsy is frequently associated with cognitive dysfunction. However, the reasons for this correlation are unclear. Possible influential factors include patient age; duration, frequency, etiology, and type of seizures; hereditary factors; psychosocial issues; and antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. Whereas many of these factors are beyond the physician's control, AED therapy is one element that can be addressed in treatment decisions by recognizing the potential cognitive effects of particular AEDs. For example, phenobarbital impairs memory and concentration; phenytoin affects attention, problem solving ability, and performance of visuomotor tasks. In contrast, carbamazepine may affect concentration, while valproate would appear to have minimal effects on cognition. Moreover, cognitive effects of AEDs are amplified with coadministration of multiple anticonvulsants (polytherapy). A review of studies on the cognitive effects of monotherapy with AEDs, as opposed to those of polytherapy, provides evidence that drug-related cognitive dysfunction can be reversed if patients are switched to a simpler therapeutic regimen. Future research should be directed toward developing reliable measures for assessing and monitoring cognition, and understanding the particular cognitive side effects of each AED. Physicians also need to revise their opinions about which side effects are "tolerable" for epileptic patients.     

Hepatic Considerations in the Use of Antiepileptic Drugs

Summary: Virtually all of the major antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can cause hepatotoxicity, although fatal hepatic reactions are rare. The mechanisms, incidences, and risk profiles for such reactions differ from drug to drug. With carbamazepine and phenytoin, hepatotoxicity may be due to drug hypersensitivity. Although the profiles of patients at risk have not been well-defined for these two antiepileptic drugs, it would appear from reports in the literature that older adolescents and adults are at higher risk than children of developing serious or fatal hepatotoxicity. Once hepatotoxicity develops, mortality rates are 10–38% with phenytoin and 25% for carbamazepine. The risk profile for valproate fatal hepatotoxicity has been more clearly defined. Those at primary risk of fatal hepatic dysfunction are children under the age of 2 years who are receiving multiple anticonvulsants and also have significant medical problems in addition to severe epilepsy. The risk is considerably lower for patients over the age of 2 years on valproate monotherapy. In contrast to the risk profile with other AEDs, adults receiving valproate as monotherapy have the lowest risk of hepatotoxicity. Fatal hepatic dysfunction coincident with valproate may be the result of aberrant drug metabolism. Concomitant use of AEDs that induce microsomal P450 enzymes (e.g., phenytoin and phenobarbital) may enhance the production of a toxic metabolite, and hence the greater risk of hepatotoxicity with polypharmacy.     

Vascular Malformations and Epilepsy: Clinical Considerations and Basic Mechanisms

Summary: Vascular malformations (VMs) are associated with epilepsy. The natural history of the various VMs, clinical presentation, and tendency to provoke epilepsy determine treatment strategies. Investigations have probed the mechanisms of epileptogenesis associated with these lesions. Electrophysiologic changes are associated with epileptogenic cortex adjacent to VMs. Putative pathophysiologic mechanisms of epileptogenesis include neuronal cell loss, glial proliferation and abnormal glial physiology, altered neurotransmitter levels, free radical formation, and aberrant second messenger physiology.     

Carbamazepine Efficacy in Adults With Partial and Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Summary: Carbamazepine and phenytoin are drugs of choice in initial monotherapy for adult partial and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures. These designations reflect the results of the Veterans Administration Epilepsy Cooperative Study Group of 1985. An earlier comparative study of carbamazepine and phenytoin by Ramsay and associates found both drugs equally effective in controlling new-onset seizures. Among the advantages of carbamazepine is that it causes relatively few cognitive and dysmorphic side effects. Its disadvantages are its unavailability in parenteral formulation and its metabolic autoinduction. The latter must be compensated for by planned dosage increases to maintain therapeutic plasma steady-state levels during the first 2 or 3 months of treatment. Carbamazepine is judged a drug of choice in the treatment of these secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the drug of choice in children, adolescents, and women susceptible to the dysmorphic side effects associated with other anticonvulsant agents.     

Etiologic and Preventive Aspects of Epilepsy in the Child–Bridging the Gap Between Laboratory and Clinic

Summary: Four broad categories of basic phenomena are pertinent to developing ways to prevent epilepsy. These include mechanisms of epileptogenesis, ictal initiation and temporary entrainment by the seizure discharge of normally functioning brain, seizure propagation, and control mechanisms that function both to restrain the cascade of epileptic events culminating in a seizure and to arrest the epileptic event and restore the interictal state. In newborns and children, hypoxia-ischemia is a major factor leading to epileptogenesis, and several schemes are proposed to classify, quantify, and prevent hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Control mechanisms must be better understood in order to develop prophylactic recommendations for epilepsy, and an experimental model of "kindling antagonism" may increase our understanding of these. Programs of prevention of seizures in children will evolve only if basic researchers and clinicians work productively together to develop an adequate understanding of factors important in epileptogenesis and antiepileptogenic control mechanisms.     

Epilepsy and anomalies of neuronal migration: MRI and clinical aspects

Neuronal migration disorders are the result of disturbed brain development. In such disorders, neurons are abnormally located. In diagnosing these conditions, magnetic resonance imaging is superior to any other imaging technique. This enables us to improve our knowledge of the clinical correlates of neuronal migration. With reference to migrational disorder, a retrospective study of all 303 patients with epileptic seizures referred for magnetic resonance imaging during a 3-year period was performed, 13 patients (aged 12-41, mean age 27) were identified. They represent 4.3% of the entire study group. Of the patients with known epilepsy, 6.7% and of the mentally retarded, 13.7% had migrational disorders. Four patients had schizencephaly as the dominant finding, one was classified as hemimegalencephaly, 2 had isolated heterotopias, and 6 had localized pachy- and/or poly-microgyria. The clinical pictures are complex. Ectopias of grey matter are recognised foci of epilepsy, but from an epileptological and a clinical viewpoint little attention has been given to these disorders. The present study shows that malmigration is not rare in epilepsy patients, especially not in the mentally retarded.     

Carbamazepine Efficacy and Utilization in Children

Summary: Carbamazepine is effective for preventing partial and generalized tonic-clonic seizures in children. Although absence epilepsies are more common in children than adults, an estimated 80% of children with epilepsy have seizure types or epilepsies that are potentially responsive to carbamazepine. The differential diagnosis of ictal staring is an especially important issue in children because absence and atypical absence seizures are more prevalent in children than adults. Age-related pharmacokinetic differences and drug interactions are major considerations in children. On average, children have higher clearance rates of carbamazepine, shorter half-lives, and higher ratios of carbamazepine-10, 11-epoxide to carbamazepine than adults. In addition, children with severe epilepsy are more likely to require multiple-drug therapy, which can lead to complex drug interactions. When carbamazepine is administered along with valproate, drug protein binding interactions can cause intermittent side effects.     

Predisposing and Causative Factors in Childhood Epilepsy

Summary: We review information from large studies of defined populations, examining the role of known factors and especially of prenatal and perinatal factors in contributing to nonfebrile seizure disorders of early childhood. We depend especially, but not exclusively, on the recently completed analyses from the Collaborative Perinatal Project of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, the NCPP. About 4% of children in the NCPP who had at least one non-febrile nonsymptomatic seizure by the age of 7 years had a previous seizure during acute neurologic illness, such as meningitis or during the acute illness after trauma. Many such seizures should potentially be preventable. Of children with seizures, 10% had had a neonatal seizure and 13% had had a febrile seizure. Among the hundreds of prenatal and perinatal factors explored as predictors of childhood seizure disorders, the principal predictors identified were congenital malformations of the fetus, cerebral and noncerebral; family history of certain neurologic disorders; and neonatal seizures. In agreement with the British National Child Development Study, labor and delivery factors in the NCPP appeared to contribute very little to childhood seizure disorders. Maldevelopment, rather than damage at birth to an initially intact nervous system, appeared to be the more common mechanism. Most seizure disorders of early childhood remained unexplained by the large set of prenatal and perinatal characteristics examined.     

Anticonvulsant Drugs and Cognitive Function: A Review of the Literature

Summary: Alterations of cognitive function are separate from disturbances of behavior seen in association with epilepsy. The nature of the cognitive disability may to a certain extent depend on the seizure type. Partial seizures, mainly derived from a temporal lobe focus, impair memory tasks, while generalized seizures seem to have more effect on attentional abilities. A number of studies, reviewed in this paper, suggest that anticonvulsant drugs further impair cognitive function. Maximal impairments are seen in patients receiving polytherapy: rationalization of polytherapy improves cognitive abilities. Studies in children and adults have allowed differentiation of the effects of various commonly used antiepileptic agents. Maximal cognitive deficits are seen with. phenytoin, while phenobarbital and sodium valproate induce moderate disturbances, and carbamazepine seems relatively free from such toxicity. Further research is needed on the interrelationship between types of seizure disorders, types of anticonvulsant medications, and cognitive function.