BACKGROUND Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder with significant psychosocial sequelae such as occurrence of mental illness, interference in activities of daily living and stigma .Among the mental disorders common in people with epilepsy, depressive disorders seem to top the list and despite this high occurrence ,it still remains under-diagnosed and undertreated, exposing the already stigmatized individual to further misery and further impacting negatively on their quality of life . Thus, knowledge of the associated factors and the role of Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in the evolution of such a disorder will influence the management of epilepsy positively. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence and associated factors for depression as well as evaluate the influence of AEDs on depression among clinically diagnosed patients with epilepsy attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, METHODS A total of 255 patients with epilepsy,18years and above who presented at the AKTH outpatient Neurology and Psychiatry clinic and Kumbotso Health Centre outpatient Psychiatry clinic over a four month period (September 2012-December 2012) were recruited for the study. Patients who gave informed consent and had been seizure free for two weeks were included while those with severe cognitive disabilities were excluded using the modified mini mental state examination (mMMSE) ,following which a socio-demographic questionnaire and structured proforma which documented historical details of the seizure patterns through interview with each case and the ii eye witness was completed per eligible subject by the interviewer or where necessary information was extracted from patient’s case note. Subsequently all participants were interviewed in a two stage procedure using the Hospital Anxiety Depression scale (HADS, Depression subset) and MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview.(MINI) Electroencephalographic and Neuroimaging reports were documented for those who had them, however they were not a prerequisite for inclusion into the study. RESULTS The prevalence of depressive disorder was 20.4% which constitutes 11.4% Dysthymia only, 3.9% Major Depressive Episode (MDE) and 5.1% both MDE and Dysthymia. The associated factors for depression found in this study included female sex, previous hospitalization for epilepsy, increased seizure frequency, prolonged duration of epilepsy and barbiturate use. However, after controlling for confounders using binary logistic regression analysis, previous hospitalization for epilepsy, increased seizure frequency and prolonged duration of epilepsy were found to be predictive of depressive disorders in patients with epilepsy. The only AED that showed a statistically significant(p=0.047) association with depression was phenobarbitone, however the frequency of depression among the various AEDs in descending order is as follows, combination of phenobarbitone and carbamazepine(CBZ) 37.5%,phenobarbitone only 30.2%,Sodium valproate only29.6%,CBZ and valproate combined 23.1% ,CBZ only 22.9% . iii CONCLUSIONS Depressive disorders were common in people with epilepsy. Factors found to be associated with depression among clinically diagnosed patients with epilepsy included female sex, previous hospitalization for epilepsy, increased frequency of seizures and prolonged duration of epilepsy. However, previous hospitalization for epilepsy, increased frequency of seizures and prolonged duration of epilepsy were found to be independent predictors of depression. Among the AEDs, only phenobarbitone appeared to be significantly associated with depression in epilepsy.