Corcoran, Rhiannon; (1992) The assessment, meaning and amelioration of everyday memory difficulties in people with epilepsy. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The project was inspired by a frequent, if rather paradoxical, clinical observation. While patients with epilepsy frequently reported disruptive memory difficulties, neuropsychological testing often failed to confirm the serious nature of the patients' complaints. It had previously been assumed that patients were overstating their difficulties. However, the same anomalous pattern has been noted elsewhere, notably in elderly and head-injured samples. This investigation was therefore undertaken to assess further the nature and degree of everyday memory difficulties in people with epilepsy. The first study assessed subjects' beliefs about the incidence of memory failures using self-report techniques. Seven hundred and sixty patients with epilepsy and one hundred and forty-six subjects without epilepsy participated in the study. The level of patients' complaints was explored with respect to epilepsy, treatment and psychological factors. Findings demonstrated significantly more perceived memory failures in the subjects with epilepsy. Factors which were related to this increased vulnerability to failures included later onset of the condition, elevated levels of negative moods and, to a lesser extent, perhaps a less efficient use of preventative memory strategies. In study two the relationship between subjects' beliefs and the prospective recording of memory failures was examined. Results indicated that subjects with epilepsy are underestimating the level of memory failures on the retrospective questionnaire. Study three examined the relationship between memory complaints and actual test performance in a subsample of patients with epilepsy, thirty of whom were classified as complainers and thirty non-complainers. Relationships between performance measures and beliefs were weak. Only 'two memory tests were predictive of self-report indices. Contrary to expectation, tests of planning and organisation were not found to be sensitive to prospective memory performance. Finally, two small scale interventions aimed at ameliorating memory difficulties in this population were conducted. Results were promising though variable with motivational factors contributing greatly.

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