B-06 Attention and Verbal Memory Declines after Epilepsy Surgery Associated with Restricted Improvements in Cognitive, Energy and Medication Related Aspects of Quality of Life in Latino People with Epilepsy.

Objective Explore neuropsychological and quality of life outcomes of epilepsy surgery in an underserved, primarily immigrant, Spanish-speaking cohort of people with epilepsy (PWE). Methods Pre- and postsurgical Neuropsychological Screening Battery for Hispanics (NeSBHIS) and Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31; Spanish Version) results were compared for 22 adult Latinos (females = 50%), from Mexico (81.8%), El Salvador (9.1%) and Guatemala (9.1%). All participants were part of a comprehensive epilepsy center in Los Angeles. Mean surgical age was 33.5 years (SD = 8.5), while mean education was 8.7 years (SD = 3.1). Seizures were exclusively lateralized to right (59.1%) and left hemispheres (40.9%). Results One-tailed, paired t-tests demonstrated statistically significant differences between pre- and postsurgical raw scores for Digit Span, t(21) = -2.52, p = 0.02 (presurgical M = 8.05, SD = 1.70; postsurgical M = 7.32, SD = 1.43), and the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) Delayed Recall, t(21) = -2.99, p < 0.01 (presurgical M=10.00, SD=2.51; postsurgical M = 8.55 SD = 2.61). Respective effect sizes were moderate (d =.54; d =.64). QOLIE-31 scores improved on all subscales, as expected. Significant changes |p < 0.05| were found on most QOLIE-31 subscales, i.e. Seizure Worry, Emotional Well-Being, Social Function and Overall Quality of Life. Remaining subscales did not significantly improve, i.e. Energy/Fatigue, Cognitive and Medication Effects. Conclusions Attention and verbal memory declines after epilepsy surgery were associated with limited improvements on QOLIE-31 subscales of Cognitive, Energy/Fatigue and Medication Effects in Latino PWE. Previous studies have not simultaneously examined neuropsychological and QOLIE-31 outcomes after epilepsy surgery in this unique, underserved, Spanish-speaking population. Further investigation is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]