Epilepsy Behav. 2025 Sep 26;172:110716. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110716. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
A recent scoping review of health disparities and equities in pediatric epilepsy identified behavioral health outcomes as the largest represented domain, comprising 23% of findings. The current study sought to elucidate these findings by examining social determinants of health (SDOH), including: race/ethnicity, insurance, socio-economic status (SES), and education, within the context of four behavioral health domains: mental health, neurocognitive, family functioning, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Results from the scoping review revealed a total of 76 unique behavioral health findings, with more health disparities than equities in the neurocognitive and HRQOL domains and more health equities than disparities in the mental health and family functioning domains. The highest number of disparities was related to socio-economic status (SES; 74.1%). However, due to the complexity and intersectionality of SDOH in behavioral health functioning, combined with differences in methodologies between studies, we caution against general conclusions regarding the role of SDOH in barriers to pediatric epilepsy care. Instead, specific SDOH should be considered within each behavioral health domain.
PMID:41015834 | DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2025.110716
