Pharmacovigilance in Pediatric Patients with Epilepsy Using Antiepileptic Drugs

Dorota Kopciuch, Krzysztof Kus, Jędrzej Fliciński, Barbara Steinborn, Anna Winczewska-Wiktor, Anna Paczkowska, Tomasz Zaprutko, Piotr Ratajczak and Elżbieta Nowakowska
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Dorota Kopciuch: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 7, 60-806 Poznan, Poland
Krzysztof Kus: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 7, 60-806 Poznan, Poland
Jędrzej Fliciński: Department of Developmental Neurology, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Przybyszewskiego 49, 60-355 Poznan, Poland
Barbara Steinborn: Department of Developmental Neurology, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Przybyszewskiego 49, 60-355 Poznan, Poland
Anna Winczewska-Wiktor: Department of Developmental Neurology, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Przybyszewskiego 49, 60-355 Poznan, Poland
Anna Paczkowska: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 7, 60-806 Poznan, Poland
Tomasz Zaprutko: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 7, 60-806 Poznan, Poland
Piotr Ratajczak: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 7, 60-806 Poznan, Poland
Elżbieta Nowakowska: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Health Sciences, Collegium Medicum, University of Zielona Gora, Licealna 9 Street, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-8

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the occurrence of adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in pediatric epileptic patients on mono- or polytherapy. Method: We evaluated eighty consecutive patients that met the following inclusion criteria: aged ≤18 years; diagnosed with epilepsy for at least one year; a stable dose of AED for at least three months; verbal consent to participation in the study. Patients were asked if they had experienced any adverse drug reaction (ADR) related to the AED. Afterward, regardless of the answer, they were interviewed based on a detailed semi-structured questionnaire about the presence of ADRs associated with the AED. The data were analyzed regarding the use of monotherapy or polytherapy. Results: Ninety-seven percent of the patients reported having experienced ADRs related to AEDs. The greatest number of seizures affected the group of patients treated with monotherapy (both at baseline and at followup), but the greatest number of ADRs were observed among patients treated with polytherapy. In patients on monotherapy, the most frequent ADRs reported at baseline included fatigue and somnolence, and among patients with polytherapy, it was fatigue and hair loss. Conclusion: Children on polytherapy were significantly more likely to develop ADRs compared to those on monotherapy, but a statistically significant improvement in seizure frequency was also observed in the group of patients on polytherapy. Pharmacovigilance is very important in children with AEDs, so that ADRs can be identified early and managed appropriately.

Keywords: antiepileptic drugs; pharmacovigilance; epilepsy; adverse drug reactions; adverse events; pediatric population; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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