Impact of COVID19 on Availability of Anti-Epileptic Medications in Pediatric Neurology Clinic

Abstract Background In epilepsy patients, the pandemic has led to postponement of outpatient visits, cancellation of epilepsy-related tests, such as electroencephalograms (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, and even difficulties in attending emergency situations due to saturation of the healthcare services, which can create life threatening situations for patients who present to the emergency rooms with non-COVID related complaints. Aim of the Work To evaluate effect of COVID-19 pandemic on supplying anti-epileptic medications for children following in the Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Ain Shams University. Patients and Methods An observational cross-sectional study was carried out at Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Children’s hospital, Ain Shams University. The study included 126 care givers of children with epilepsy who were aged 2 to 18 years, have a diagnosis of Epilepsy (including idiopathic and cryptogenic epilepsy) for at least one year before the onset of the COVID19 pandemic. I.e., Epilepsy diagnosed at or before March 2019 and are following up at the Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Children’s Hospital, Ain Shams University. Results Our study showed only 22% of the epileptic children had trouble in obtaining the anti- epileptic drug/drugs; where the most common problem was financial problems followed by drug shortage. Most of the epileptic children didn’t have a change in the treatment regimen during the last year. Conclusion Most children with epilepsy did not experience a significant change in their clinical conditions because of healthcare reorganization during the COVID-19 emergency.