Abstract

PHARMACOVIGILANCE IN EPILEPSY: MONITORING AND MANAGING SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR ASSOCIATED WITH ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS

Janhavi R. Waykul*, Nikita V. Mahalle, Harigopal S. Sawarkar, Neha L. Zod and Umesh R. Bansod

ABSTRACT

A persistent brain illness that affects people all around the world is epilepsy. Using antiepileptic medications as prescribed is the standard of care for epilepsy. The ability of an antiepileptic medication to stop or lessen the recurrence of a specific type of seizure is referred to as efficacy. For instance, due of the teratogenic adverse effects of sodium valproate, doctors might not prescribe it to female patients who intend to become pregnant. Therefore, physicians should focus on counseling patients who exhibit these traits on how to reduce or avoid side effects from antiepileptic medications, or reassuring them if the side effects are small. Monitoring medications and preventing the possibility of negative side effects from their use, whether proved or suspected, is known as pharmacovigilance (PV). The PV study's objective is to find and identify adverse drug reactions (ADRs) that occur whenantiepileptic medications are administered to epileptic patients. This three-month prospective study was conducted in a multispecialty teaching hospital's neurology outpatient department. With a standardized mortality ratio of 3 to 5, epilepsy is a major cause of early death and increases the risk of suicide and suicidality (Suicidal ideation or conduct) in people with the condition. Suicidality has been acknowledged as a possible side effect of a number of medication classes, including antiepileptic medications (AEDs), in recent years. It can be particularly difficult to manage suicidality in patients who have no history of mental illness and for whom starting an AED is the sole novel factor.[1,2,3]

Keywords: Valproic acid, Levetiracetam, Phenytoin, epilepsy, Anti-seizure drugs, Logistic regression, Risk variables, Generalized estimating equations, Adverse drug effects.