Risk factors for cognitive impairment in patients with epilepsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Abstract Introduction Epilepsy is a common neurological disease affecting at least 50 million people globally. Cognitive impairment is a recognised comorbidity in patients with epilepsy (PWE) and is associated with low quality of life. A large number of studies have investigated the relevant risk factors of cognitive impairment in PWE, while these results were not consistent. The main aim of our study is to review the risk factors that increase the likelihood of cognitive impairment in PWE. Methods and analysis We will search the literature that reported risk factors for cognitive impairment in PWE in the following online databases from inception to October 2022: China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang database, VIP, the Chinese clinical trial registry, China Biology Medicine disc, PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, and Web of science. Two independent authors will screen the eligible literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data extraction will also be conducted by two independent authors, and discrepancies will be solved by a third author. We will use the software Revman 5.4 and Stata 15.1 to perform data synthesis, sensitivity analysis, and meta-regression. If data are sufficient, we will also perform the subgroup analysis. The quality of evidence will be evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation(GRADE). Discussion Our study can assist clinicians in better understanding and managing this disease through reviewing the risk factors of cognitive impairment in PWE. We also expect this study can provide reliable evidence for this unanswered research question and promote the development of the prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment in PWE. Registration number CRD 42022365184.