Terminology of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures

Abstract

Several different terms have been used to describe "psychogenic nonepileptic seizures" (PNES) in the literature. In this study, we evaluated the most common English terms used to describe PNES on Google and in PubMed using multiple search terms (https://www.google.com and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed). The information prevalence of the five terms most frequently used to refer to PNES in PubMed were: psychogenic non(-)epileptic seizure(s), followed by pseudo(-)seizure(s), non(-)epileptic seizure(s), psychogenic seizure(s), and non(-)epileptic event(s). The five most frequently adopted terms to describe PNES in Google were: psychogenic non(-)epileptic seizure(s), followed by non(-)epileptic event(s), psychogenic attack(s), non(-)epileptic attack(s), and psychogenic non(-)epileptic attack(s). The broad spectrum of synonyms used to refer to PNES in the medical literature reflects a lack of internationally accepted, uniform terminology for PNES. In addition to "seizure(s)," lay people use the word "attack(s)" to describe PNES. Although considered obsolete, some terms, e.g., pseudoseizure(s), are still used in the recent medical literature. Adopting a uniform terminology to describe PNES could facilitate communication between epileptologists, physicians without specific expertise in epilepsy, and patients.

Keywords: Google; Infodemiology; Internet; MEDLINE; PubMed; Web.