Questionnaire-based screening for mental distress in epilepsy: Outline and feasibility of an outpatient screening and intervention pathway.

Objective: Mental distress is present in a significant proportion of people with epilepsy (PWE), with a negative impact across life domains. It is underdiagnosed and under-treated despite guidelines recommending screening for its presence (e.g., SIGN, 2015). We describe a tertiary-care epilepsy mental distress screening and treatment pathway, with a preliminary investigation of its feasibility.

Methods: We selected psychometric screening instruments for depression, anxiety, quality of life (QOL), and suicidality, establishing treatment options matched to instrument scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), along 'traffic light' lines. We determined feasibility outcomes including recruitment and retention rates, resources required to run the pathway, and level of psychological need. We undertook a preliminary investigation of change in distress scores over a 9-month interval and determined PWE engagement and the perceived usefulness of pathway treatment options.

Results: Two-thirds of eligible PWE were included in the pathway with an 88% retention rate. At the initial screen, 45.8% of PWE required either an 'Amber-2' intervention (for moderate distress) or a 'Red' one (for severe distress). The equivalent figure at the 9-month re-screen was 36.8%, reflective of an improvement in depression and QOL scores. Online charity-delivered well-being sessions and neuropsychology were rated highly for engagement and perceived usefulness, but computerized cognitive behavioral therapy was not. The resources required to run the pathway were modest.

Conclusion: Outpatient mental distress screening and intervention are feasible in PWE. The challenge is to optimize methods for screening in busy clinics and to determine the best (and most acceptable) interventions for screening positive PWE.