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To evaluate impulsiveness in adult patients with JME and its relationship with personality traits and executive functioning.Patients completed psychiatric evaluation (DSM IV), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), Neo Revised Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and executive functioning evaluation comprising Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA), Digit Span, Trail Making Tests (TMT), Stroop Test (ST) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WSCT). Healthy controls (63 % female, mean age 35.7 yrs. (±8.37)) were examined to allow calculation of z-scores.50 patients (70 % female; mean age 32.5 yrs. (±9.2)) presented higher scores of Total (z=-0.37; p = 0.005) and Motor Impulsiveness (z=-0.79; p 0.001) on BIS-11. Motor Impulsiveness was associated with higher rates of mild psychiatric disorders (depression and anxiety) (p = 0.035) and worse myoclonic seizure control (p = 0.007). NEO PI-R showed differences on Neuroticism (z=-0.60; p 0.001), Openness (z = 0.38; p = 0.043), Agreeableness (z=-0.38; p = 0.033) and Conscientiousness (z=-0.53; p = 0.003). There were positive correlations between BIS-11 and Neuroticism with Total, Motor and Non-Planning Impulsiveness, on the other hand, Conscientiousness was negatively correlated with these as well as with Attentive Impulsiveness. Patients performance was worse than that of controls on COWA (z=-0.43; p = 0.009) and WCST's Total Number of Completed Categories (z=-2.08; p = 0.005), Trials Taken to Complete First Category (z=-1.56; p = 0.013), Percentage of Total Errors (z=-1.56; p 0.001), Perseverative Errors (z=-0.73; p = 0.002), Non-Perseverative Errors (z=-1.05; p = 0.003) and Conceptual Level Responses (z=-1.52; p 0.001). Non-Planning Impulsiveness correlated with Performance (ST and TMT).Patients with JME present with impulsive behavior, personality features and executive dysfunction which are linked and may lead to lack of commitment in treatment and affect other aspects of life.

The present study aimed to validate the 55-item Health-Related Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55) in Brazilian Portuguese and evaluate the relation of its results with clinical data and caregiver burden.The QOLCE-55 was submitted to translation, back-translation, and cultural adaptation in a pilot sample with 20 subjects. To ensure the psychometric properties of validation, the validation of the QOLCE-55 was carried out in a sample of 45 patients with epilepsy aged between 4 and 18 years and their parents or caregivers and compared with the results of other quality-of-life instruments, namely, the QVCE-50 and QOLIE-AD-48, as well as with the SDQ, abrief behavioral screeningquestionnaire. The WASI and SON-R 2½-7 [a] were used for evaluation of intelligence quotient (IQ) and the Burden Interview for the caregiver burden.Internal consistency measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficient was moderate (0.692; p = 0.264), and the test-retest reliability analyzed by the intraclass correlation coefficient was satisfactory when compared with the results by different examiners on the same day (0.951; p = 0.001) and at different times (0.778; p = 0.001). This version of the QOLCE-55 presented a strong correlation with the QVCE-50 (0.904; p 0.001) and SDQ (-0.428; p = 0.004) but a low correlation with the QOLIE-AD-48 (0.094; p = 0.729). This version also presented a correlation with IQ (R = 0.456, p = 0.003) and an inverse correlation with the Burden Interview (-0.390; p = 0.012). Low quality of life was associated with the presence of tonic-clonic seizures (p = 0.005), polytherapy (p = 0.003), and low socioeconomic conditions (p = 0.005).The Brazilian Portuguese version of the QOLCE-55 was confirmed as a reliable and valid scale to assess quality of life in children and adolescents with epilepsy. Behavioral problems, caregiver burden, tonic-clonic seizures, polytherapy, and socioeconomic precariousness were associated with low quality-of-life values, while IQ was positively correlated with the quality of life in this population.

This article intends to verify the association of dysfunctional beliefs of personality disorders with the executive performance in people with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME).Fifty-two patients (35 women, 67.3%) with JME aged 18-50 yrs. (32.3 ± 9.7) were evaluated between May 2017 and April 2018 and compared with controls. All subjects were submitted to the Personality Beliefs Questionnaire (PBQ) (BeckBeck, 1991; Savoia et al., 2006), Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DQ; Wilson et al., 1996; Macuglia et al., 2016), estimated intelligence quotient (IQ) using Vocabulary and Block Design tests, attention and executive functions evaluation (Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA), Digit Span, Trail Making Tests (TMT) A and B, Stroop and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)). The inclusion criteria were as follows: diagnosis of JME (ILAE, 1989); age ≥18 yrs., schooling ≥ 11 yrs. and IQ ≥70. The inclusion criteria for the control group were the same except diagnosis of epilepsy.Compared with controls, patients presented higher scores in PBQ for personality disorders, namely Narcissistic (z = -0.79; p 0.001), Borderline (z = -0.58; p = 0.002), Paranoid (z = -0.43; p = 0.017), and Histrionic (z = -0.39; p = 0.041). Executive functions were impaired when compared with controls in TMT A (z = -0.97; p = 0.038), TMT B (z = -0.65; p = 0.023), and COWA (z = -0.51; p = 0.001). Patients showed higher WCST scores for Errors (z = -1.62; p ≤ 0.001), Perseverative Errors (z = -0.77; p = 0.001), Non-Perseverative Errors (z = -1.01; p = 0.001), Conceptual Level Response (z = -1.56; p ≤ 0.001), Completed Categories (z = -2.12; p = 0.002), and Failure to Maintain Context (z = -0.49; p = 0.015). Personality Beliefs Questionnaire results showed correlation with lower values in TMT A, Antisocial (r = -0.298; p = 0.032), Narcissistic (r = -0.303; p = 0.029), Schizoid (r = - 0.410; p = 0.003), Histrionic (r = -0.341; p = 0.013), Passive-aggressive (r = -0.341; p = 0.015), and Obsessive-compulsive (r = -0.319; p = 0.021); TMT B results showed a trend for Obsessive-compulsive traits (r = -0.261; p = 0.052); COWA was correlated to Dependent (r = 0.319; p = 0.021); and Digit Span to Passive-aggressive (r = 0.287; p = 0.039). On WCST, Failure to Maintain Context was correlated to Avoidant (r = 0.335; p = 0.017). The DQ was not correlated with PBQ.People with JME presented dysfunctional beliefs of personality disorder that were correlated with executive dysfunction. These findings reinforce the need for psychological rehabilitation in these patients.