Childhood epilepsy linked to significantly lower long-term educational attainment
Childhood epilepsy is linked to significantly poorer exam grades and long-term educational attainment, with the lowest levels of academic achievement among those whose neurological disorder started when they were very young, finds a large, long-term Danish study published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
A new Danish research study has found a clear link between childhood epilepsy and significantly lower educational attainment in later life. The large-scale analysis of over a million Danish children, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, reveals that those diagnosed with epilepsy during childhood are much more likely to struggle academically and complete less education by the age of 17.
Epilepsy, which affects up to 1% of children in high-income countries, often co-occurs with other neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder and ADHD. These children also face challenges focusing and concentrating due to their condition. The researchers tracked the academic performance of Danish children born between 1987 and 2005, comparing those with epilepsy to those without.
Children diagnosed with epilepsy at a very young age, or those with more complicated forms of the condition, were especially disadvantaged. They were more than three times more likely to not finish first-level schooling by age 17, and their exam grades in math and languages were consistently lower compared to their peers without epilepsy.
By the ages of 30 and 35, only about a third and 9.5% of children with childhood epilepsy had attained higher education, respectively, compared to over a fifth of those without the condition.
The study also highlights the gender disparity, with girls having nearly four times the odds of not completing first-level schooling compared to boys, despite early-onset and complicated epilepsy being more common in boys. Factors such as coexisting psychiatric conditions, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder further reduced the likelihood of completing education.
While the study does not definitively prove that epilepsy impairs cognitive development, it emphasizes the need for targeted intervention and support for young people with childhood-onset epilepsy. Better assessment of academic capacity and tailored educational and psychosocial assistance could help optimize their educational potential despite the challenges posed by the condition.
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