Epilepsy prevalence in a rural area in Istanbul

• DOI: 10.1053/seiz.2001.0665
• Publication Date: 2003-10-31T17:53:05Z
• Authors: A.Emel Onal; Yildiz Tumerdem; Mustafa K Ozturk; Candan Gurses; Betul Baykan; Aysen Gokyigit; Sevda Ozel
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Rural Population; Adolescent; Clinical Neurology; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Catchment Area, Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Prevalence; Humans; Child; neuro-epidemiology; Aged; Retrospective Studies; Aged, 80 and over; Epilepsy; screening.; Infant; Electroencephalography; Middle Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies; Neurology; Case-Control Studies; Child, Preschool; epilepsy; Female

This study is a field study with cross-section and case control conducted in the Kucukcekmece Region of Istanbul between June 1999 and February 2000. Four hundred and ninety three dwellings selected by a simple random sampling method were visited. From a population of 2187, 58 people, after filling in a questionnaire were suspected to have epilepsy. Following an interview, neurological examination and an electroencephalogram (EEG) 17 were diagnosed as having epilepsy. Lifetime epilepsy prevalence was 0.8%. 41.2% of the 17 epilepsy cases had partial epilepsy ( n= 7), 47.0% had generalized (n = 8) and in 11.8% seizures could not be classified ( n= 2). The risk factors for epilepsy in the control group ( n= 125) from the same region and those with epilepsy were investigated by means of logistic regression analyses. Educational status (odds ratio : 1.82, 95% confidence interval : 1.13-2.94; P= 0.01), profession (OR : 0.76, 95% CI : 0.60-0.97; P= 0.03), history of epilepsy in the family (OR : 0.67, 95% CI : 0.47-0.94; P= 0.02) were determined to be correlated with epilepsy. The results have drawn attention to the fact that individuals should be informed about epilepsy.