Spirituality in epilepsy – A Hungarian study

BACKGROUND: The relationship between epilepsy and spirituality/religiosity has long been studied, but prior findings are inconsistent and mainly derived from highly religious societies. We aimed to assess the level of spirituality in a largely secular sample of Hungarian adults with focal epilepsy and to analyze its associations with clinical features. METHODS: We conducted a cross‑sectional study of 129 patients with focal epilepsy. All participants completed the Index of Spirituality (INSPIRIT‑R) questionnaire and provided detailed sociodemographic and clinical information. RESULTS: Religiosity was low among patients with epilepsy: 30.2% of patients were not religious at all, and 84.5% responded that almost never engage in religious or spiritual practices. These figures indicate slightly lower religiosity than the national figures from Hungary. High spirituality was associated with lower income (p = 0.003). Seizure‑free patients were more likely to have high spirituality: 57% of patients with high spirituality were seizure‑free, whereas seizure freedom was seen in only 34% of patients with low spirituality (p = 0.007). Isolated auras were also associated with higher spirituality: 39% of patients with high spirituality had isolated auras, whereas this rate was only 22% among patients with low spirituality (p = 0.037). Tonic-clonic seizures were associated with lower spirituality in univariate analysis but not after adjustment. CONCLUSION: In our strongly secular cohort, religiosity and spirituality were low among patients with epilepsy: probably lower than in the general population. Spirituality in epilepsy appears more closely related to income, milder epilepsy, and aura experiences.