Epilepsy and challenging behaviour in adults with intellectual disability: A systematic review

Background: Epilepsy and challenging behaviour are both highly prevalent in the intellectual disability (ID) population and it is thus crucial to understand any possible associations between the two.

Method: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science were searched for quantitative data about epilepsy and any forms of challenging behaviour in adults with ID.

Results: A total of 25 articles were included in the review. Overall the evidence suggests that while epilepsy is not a good explanatory variable for the presence of challenging behaviour; the relationship is complex. However, for some people with epilepsy and for certain types of challenging behaviour a link may exist.

Conclusions: Given the possible link between epilepsy-related factors such as seizure type and specific subgroups of challenging behaviour, investigating these relationships further and particularly exploring how to best measure challenging behaviour in people with epilepsy could be of great clinical benefit.