Assessing adverse reactions in people living with epilepsy on levetiracetam

• Neurological Adverse Drug reaction is common in patients with epilepsy. • Seizure's lower age of onset is associated with adverse drug reactions. • Higher Liverpool Adverse Event Profile scores were significantly associated with adverse drug reactions. • Healthcare providers should focus on identifying and mitigating these adverse drug reactions to improve the quality of care in Patients with epilepsy. This study aimed to evaluate factors associated with adverse drug reaction (ADR) among people with epilepsy (PWE) on Levetiracetam (LEV) monotherapy. This descriptive, cross-sectional study, utilized a total purposive sampling method, to recruit 102 consenting participants on LEV monotherapy. Seizure classification was determined using the 2017 International League against Epilepsy (ILAE) guideline. Liverpool Adverse Events Profile (LAEP) was employed to evaluate ADR in individuals on LEV monotherapy. There were 44 (43%) had ADR [single 21(20.59%) vs multiple 23(22.55%)], while 58 (56.86%) had No Adverse Drug Reaction (NADR) respectively. The most common ADRs were headaches 20 (19.6%), disturbed sleep (18.6%), and dizziness 16 (15.7%). Demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable among ADR, and NADR, except for marital status (p0.043), lower age at onset [23.89 ± 13.30 vs 32.32 ± 20.34 (p0.027)], and higher LAEP score [24.48 ± 5.55 vs 19.00 ± 0.00 (p<0.001)]. The parameters were also comparable in single and multiple reactions except for marital status (p0.035), and etiology (p0.012). Furthermore, lower age at onset (p0.027), and higher LAEP score (p<0.001) were identified factors associated with ADR among participants. However, none of these predicted ADR. Nearly half of the participants had ADR, with neurological ADRs being the commonest, and 23% of them had multiple ADRs. Furthermore, lower age at onset and higher LAEP scores were significantly associated with ADR. Healthcare providers should focus on identifying and mitigating these ADRs to improve the quality of care in PWE.