Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28956479›Full record

ArticleClinical child psychology and psychiatry2018

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in children and adolescents: Part II - explanations to families, treatment, and group outcomes.

Kasia Kozlowska, Catherine Chudleigh, Catherine Cruz, Melissa Lim, Georgia McClure, Blanche Savage, Ubaid Shah, Averil Cook, Stephen Scher, Pascal Carrive and 1 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical child psychology and psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.9field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.

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  12. Stigma surrounding functional seizures.Pediatric research · 2020
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Kasia Kozlowska1 Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Catherine Chudleigh1 Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Catherine Cruz1 Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Melissa Lim1 Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Georgia McClure1 Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Blanche Savage1 Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Ubaid Shah3 Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Averil Cook1 Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Stephen Scher3 Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Pascal Carrive8 Department of Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences, University of NSW, Australia.
Deepak Gill3 Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Children's Hospital at Westmead · AUHarvard University · USUniversity of Sydney · AUUNSW Sydney · AUWestmead Institute for Medical Research · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) - time-limited disturbances of consciousness and motor-sensory control, not accompanied by ictal activity on electroencephalogram (EEG) - are best conceptualized as atypical neurophysiological responses to emotional distress, physiological stressors and danger. Patients and families find the diagnosis of PNES difficult to understand; the transition from neurology (where the diagnosis is made) to mental health services (to which patients are referred for treatment) can be a bumpy one. This study reports how diagnostic formulations constructed for 60 consecutive children and adolescents with PNES were used to inform both the explanations about PNES that were given to them and their families and the clinical interventions that were used to help patients gain control over PNES. Families were able to accept the diagnosis of PNES and engage in treatment when it was explained how emotional distress, illness and states of high arousal could activate atypical defence responses in the body and brain - with PNES being an unwanted by-product of this process. Patients and their families made good use of therapeutic interventions. A total of 75% of children/adolescents (45/60) regained normal function and attained full-time return to school. Global Assessment of Functioning scores increased from 41 to 67 ( t(54) = 10.09; p < .001). Outcomes were less favourable in children/adolescents who presented with chronic PNES and in those with a chronic, comorbid mental health disorder that failed to resolve with treatment. The study highlights that prompt diagnosis, followed by prompt multidisciplinary assessment, engagement, and treatment, achieves improved outcomes in children/adolescents with PNES.

Indexed as

AdolescentChildElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMalePsychophysiologic DisordersSeizuresconversion disorderdissociationdissociative convulsionsfunctional neurological symptom disorderPsychogenic non-epileptic seizuresstress seizures

Identifiers

PMID28956479
PMCPMC5757408
OpenAlexW2756785688

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.