Table 1.
Clinical details of participants, including comparison between males and females.
| Variable | Total | Female | Male | P value | Test type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Number | 322 (100%) | 216 (67.1%) | 106 (32.9%) | N/A | N/A |
| Median age at JME diagnosis (y, range) | 16 (6‐40) | 15 (6‐37) | 16 (9‐40) | 0.12 | Mann–Whitney |
| Median JME duration (y, range) | 6.2 (0‐39.4) | 6.6 (0‐39.4) | 4.9 (0‐30.3) | 0.24 | Mann–Whitney |
| Median age (y, range) | 24 (11‐53) | 24 (11‐53) | 23 (13‐46) | 0.91 | Mann–Whitney |
| Median BMI (kg/m2 range) | 23.7 (15‐52) | 23.5 (15‐52) | 25.2 (15‐44) | 0.21 | Mann–Whitney |
| BMI category | |||||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 25 (8.9%) | 17 (8.8%) | 8 (9.3%) | 0.88 | Chi squared |
| Healthy (18.5‐24.9) | 134 (47.9%) | 100 (51.5%) | 34 (39.5%) | 0.06 | Chi squared |
| Overweight (25‐29.9) | 75 (26.8%) | 50 (25.8%) | 25 (29.1%) | 0.57 | Chi squared |
| Obese (>30) | 46 (16.4%) | 27 (13.9%) | 19 (22.1%) | 0.09 | Chi squared |
| Seizure types | |||||
| Myoclonus only | 17 (5.4%) | 11 (5.1%) | 6 (5.9%) | 0.83 | Chi squared |
| Myoclonus and GTCS | 147 (46.5%) | 94 (43.7%) | 53 (52.5%) | 0.27 | Chi squared |
| Myoclonus and absence | 20 (6.3%) | 17 (7.9%) | 3 (3.0%) | 0.08 | Chi squared |
| Myoclonus, absence and GTCS | 132 (41.8%) | 93 (43.3%) | 39 (38.6%) | 0.28 | Chi squared |
| Mean age of myoclonus onset (y, SD) | 14.7 (3.00) | 14.5 (2.94) | 15.1 (3.05) | 0.13 | T‐test |
| Prediagnostic frequency of myoclonus | |||||
| Daily | 73 (33.3%) | 53 (34.4%) | 20 (30.8%) | 0.60 | Chi squared |
| Weekly | 77 (35.2%) | 53 (34.4%) | 24 (36.9%) | 0.72 | Chi squared |
| Less than weekly | 69 (31.5%) | 48 (31.2%) | 21 (32.3%) | 0.87 | Chi squared |
| Current frequency of myoclonic seizures | |||||
| Daily | 39 (12.4%) | 26 (12.2%) | 13 (12.7%) | 0.89 | Chi squared |
| Weekly | 51 (16.2%) | 29 (13.6%) | 22 (21.6%) | 0.07 | Chi squared |
| Less than weekly | 174 (55.2%) | 124 (58.2%) | 50 (49.0%) | 0.13 | Chi squared |
| None | 51 (16.2%) | 34 (16.0%) | 17 (16.7%) | 0.87 | Chi squared |
| Morning predominance of myoclonus | 237 (76.9%) | 161 (78.2%) | 76 (74.5%) | 0.48 | Chi squared |
| Absence seizures | 153 (48.3%) | 111 (51.4%) | 42 (41.6%) | 0.10 | Chi squared |
| Median absence age of onset (y, range) | 13 (3‐37) | 12 (3‐37) | 14 (8‐30) | 0.03 | Mann–Whitney |
| Current frequency of absence seizures | |||||
| Daily | 24 (7.8%) | 17 (8.0%) | 7 (7.2%) | 0.81 | Chi squared |
| Weekly | 23 (7.4%) | 18 (8.5%) | 5 (5.2%) | 0.30 | Chi squared |
| Less than weekly | 81 (26.2%) | 59 (27.8%) | 22 (22.7%) | 0.34 | Chi squared |
| Currently none | 17 (5.5%) | 13 (6.1%) | 4 (4.1%) | 0.47 | Chi squared |
| None ever | 164 (53.1%) | 105 (49.5%) | 59 (60.8%) | 0.07 | Chi squared |
| GTCS | 282 (88.4%) | 187 (87.0%) | 95 (91.3%) | 0.25 | Chi squared |
| Median age of GTCS onset (y, range) | 15 (5‐37) | 15 (5‐37) | 15 (12‐31) | 0.18 | Mann–Whitney |
| Median number of prediagnostic GTCS | 2 (0‐200) | 2 (0 ‐ 50) | 1 (0‐200) | 0.17 | Mann–Whitney |
| Lifetime AED therapy | |||||
| Valproate | 202 (62.7%) | 118 (54.6%) | 84 (79.2%) | 0.000018 | Chi squared |
| Lamotrigine | 199 (61.8%) | 152 (70.4%) | 47 (44.3%) | 6.0 x 10 ‐6 | Chi squared |
| Levetiracetam | 185 (57.5%) | 147 (68.1%) | 38 (35.8%) | 4.0 x 10 ‐8 | Chi squared |
| Topiramate | 47 (14.6%) | 36 (16.7%) | 11 (10.4%) | 0.13 | Chi squared |
| None of the above | 6 (1.9%) | 4 (1.9%) | 2 (1.9%) | 0.98 | Chi squared |
| Median number of AEDs used (range) | 2 (0‐4) | 2 (0‐4) | 1 (0‐4) | 0.001 | Mann–Whitney |
| History of AED side effects | |||||
| Weight gain on valproate | 66 (33.3%) | 47 (40.2%) | 19 (23.5%) | 0.014 | Chi squared |
| Psychiatric event to levetiracetam | 68 (37.2%) | 51(34.9%) | 17 (45.9%) | 0.22 | Chi squared |
| Skin rash withdrawal on lamotrigine | 15 (7.6%) | 10 (6.7%) | 5 (10.6%) | 0.37 | Chi squared |
| Cognitive adverse event to topiramate | 6 (13.6%) | 4 (11.8%) | 2 (20.0%) | 0.51 | Chi squared |
| Psychiatric adverse event to topiramate | 3 (6.7%) | 1 (2.9%) | 2 (18.2%) | 0.14 | Chi squared |
| Weight loss on topiramate | 16 (35.6%) | 12 (35.3%) | 4 (36.4%) | 0.95 | Chi squared |
| Mean BIS‐brief score (SD) | 18 .1 (4.4) | 17.7 (4.5) | 18.8 (4.2) | 0.043 | T‐test |
Bold p‐values are significant at P < 0.05.
Abbreviations: AED, antiepileptic drug; BMI, Body Mass Index; GTCS, generalized tonic‐clonic seizure; JME, Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy; SD, standard deviation; y, years.