Trigger self-control and seizure arrest in the Andrews/Reiter behavioral approach to epilepsy: a retrospective analysis of seizure frequency.

The aim of this retrospective study is to describe changes of seizure frequency in epilepsy patients who participated in the Andrews/Reiter behavioral intervention for epilepsy. For this uncontrolled retrospective study, data were extracted from patients' medical journals. Intention-to-treat-analyses were restricted to patients with sufficient documentation supporting a diagnosis of probable or definite epilepsy. Main outcome variable was a comparison of mean seizure frequency at baseline and toward completion of the program. The seizure frequency of 30 (50%) patients showed a clinically meaningful improvement (>50% reduction of seizures) toward the end of the intervention. Twenty-two (37%) patients became seizure-free at the end of the intervention. In summary, a clinically meaningful reduction in reported seizure frequency was observed in epilepsy patients who received the Andrews/Reiter intervention for epilepsy. Prospective trials are needed to further investigate the program's efficacy and to study epileptic seizure triggers.