Objectives: We investigated the rate of driving in patients with seizures [i.e., epilepsy or functional seizures (FS)]. We also investigated the factors that may be associated with NOT driving a motor vehicle.
Methods: This was a retrospective study of an electronic database of patients with seizures that has been built prospectively over more than a decade. All patients, 20 years of age or older, with a diagnosis of idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE), focal epilepsy, or FS were studied at the outpatient epilepsy clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, from 2008 until 2020.
Results: One thousand four hundred and ninety-two patients were studied (918 patients with focal epilepsy, 338 people with IGE, and 236 individuals with FS). In total, 387 patients (25.9%) reported driving a motor vehicle. Driving rate in patients with IGE was 26.9%, in people with focal epilepsy was 27.0%, and in individuals with FS was 20.3%; the difference was not significant (p = 0.10). Female sex and a younger age at the onset of seizures were significantly associated with not driving a motor vehicle. Being married and having any education were significantly inversely associated with not driving a motor vehicle.
Conclusion: Most patients with seizures (either people with epilepsy or those with FS alike) do not drive a motor vehicle in their routine daily lives. Demographic factors (e.g., sex, marital status, and education) have significant associations with not driving a motor vehicle.
Keywords: Driving; Epilepsy; PNES; Psychogenic; Seizure.
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