Depression in epilepsy, migraine, and multiple sclerosis
Epidemiology and how to screen for it
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Purpose of review: To provide an overview of the epidemiology of depression in chronic neurologic conditions that can affect individuals throughout the lifespan (epilepsy, migraine, multiple sclerosis [MS]) and examine depression screening tools for adults with these conditions.
Recent findings: Depression is common in neurologic conditions and can be associated with lower quality of life, higher health resource utilization, and poor adherence to treatment. It affects around 20%–30% of those with epilepsy, migraine, and MS, and evidence for a bidirectional association exists for each of these conditions. Depression screening tools generally perform well in neurologic conditions, but are not without limitations.
Summary: Depression is a major contributor to poor outcomes in epilepsy, migraine, and MS. Although psychiatric resources are scarce globally, this is no reason to ignore depression in neurologic conditions. Depression screening tools are available in neurology and should be considered in clinical practice.
Footnotes
Funding information and disclosures are provided at the end of the article. Full disclosure form information provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at Neurology.org/cp.
See editorial, page 96
- Received November 30, 2016.
- Accepted February 7, 2017.
- © 2017 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)
Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here
Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page. Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00. Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means. The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use. Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.
The Nerve!: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Dr. David E. Vaillancourt and Dr. Shannon Y. Chiu
► Watch
Related Articles
Topics Discussed
Alert Me
Recommended articles
-
Views & Reviews
Detecting depression in Parkinson diseaseA systematic review and meta-analysisZahra Goodarzi, Kelly J. Mrklas, Derek J. Roberts et al.Neurology, June 29, 2016 -
Research
Validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 in neurologic populationsKimberly G. Williams, Michael Sanderson, Nathalie Jette et al.Neurology: Clinical Practice, October 23, 2019 -
Article
Prevalence of lifetime depression in a large hemiplegic migraine cohortMark A. Louter, Nadine Pelzer, Irene de Boer et al.Neurology, November 02, 2016 -
Review
Psychiatric Comorbidities in People With EpilepsyMarco Mula, Andres M. Kanner, Nathalie Jetté et al.Neurology: Clinical Practice, May 29, 2020