Demographics, Clinical Characteristics, and Management Strategies of Epilepsy in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Epilepsy accounts for a large part of the global burden of neurological disorders. This review aimed to assess the demographics, clinical characteristics, and management of patients with epilepsy in Saudi Arabia based on studies published from 2018 to 2023. A systematic review was carried out using PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library from January 2018 to January 2023, where key terms related to the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, treatment, and management strategy of epilepsy in Saudi Arabia were used to search for related studies. All relevant articles published in this period in the English language were included, and data about authors, year of the study, sample size, study design, demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and treatment strategy were collected. A male preponderance, a 6-24.9% family history of epilepsy, an equal distribution of focal and tonic-clonic epilepsy, EEG abnormalities of 19.7-70%, and a higher prevalence of monotherapy regimens were the main findings of this review.