Prevalence of Epilepsy in Bursa City Center, an Urban Area of Turkey

Abstract

. The sample group was selected from people living in the central district of Bursa, according to the stratified sampling method with regard to socioeconomic class, age, and sex. Neurology residents using standard questionnaires and semistructured interviews carried out faceto-face interviews.Results: Of the 199 presumptive cases detected in the initial interview, 26 (11 female, 15 male subjects) received the diagnosis of epilepsy on the day of assessment. Prevalence of active epilepsy was 8.5 per 1000, and lifetime prevalence was 12.2 per 1000 in the central district of Bursa. Classification of the epileptic seizures revealed that 30.7% of the patients had partial and 65.3% had generalized seizures; seizures could not be classified in 3.8%. The seizures had begun during the first decade of life in 50% of the cases, and 34.6% have been using regular medications.Conclusions: Prevalence studies in our country are scarce; thus further research including different regions and multiple centers is needed. Addition of questions suitable to the Turkish social structure to the standard questions determined by WHO may be beneficial for practitioners in considering the diagnosis of epilepsy and referring these patients to specialized centers.

Epilepsy in the developing world

“…A population-based study carried out among children in Kenya reported the incidence of epilepsy (two or more unprovoked seizures) to be 187 per 100,000 [8••]. In a population-based study among all ages in Honduras [14], the incidence of nonfebrile seizures was 92.7 per 100,000 (Table 1). Because of the broader case-inclusion criteria and uncertainty regarding age-specifi c distribution in these incidence studies, there is no way to compare the results.…”

Prevalence of epilepsy in the university students representing a young adult population with normal intelligence

“…[14] Another two cross-sectional and case control studies conducted in a rural area of Turkey determined the prevalence of active epilepsy to 5.9 per 1000 and 10.2 per 1000 in all age groups. [11][12][13] Also, other researchers found the prevalence of active epilepsy for all ages to be 8.5 per 1000 in the urban areas of Turkey. [12] Only a few combined studies conducted in Turkey included data on prevalence rate in the age range of our population.…”

“…These studies reported various prevalence rates, from 4.5 per 1000 to 17.3 per 1000 in the total population of Turkey. [11][12][13][14][15][16] The study conducted in the northeast region of Turkey reported the prevalence rate of epilepsy to be 5.3/1000 in all age groups. [15] The crude prevalence rate of epilepsy in comparative epidemiological study in Turkey and Pakistan was 7.0 per 1000 in all age groups.…”

“…The limited number of epilepsy prevalence studies in Turkey usually combines all age groups. [11][12][13][14][15][16] Studies investigating the prevalence of active or lifetime epilepsy for all age groups have been conducted in both rural and urban areas of Turkey. These studies reported various prevalence rates, from 4.5 per 1000 to 17.3 per 1000 in the total population of Turkey.…”

Quality of Life and Cost analysis Following Epilepsy Surgery in Turkish Patients

“…[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] According to this, considering that approximately 700,000 epilepsy patients exist in Turkey, about 10% of this epilepsy population is surgery candidates. The benefits of epilepsy surgery in terms of seizure outcome and improvements in life quality are beyond controversy in well selected patient groups, especially in temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.…”