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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Ewan Hunter, Dr Richard McNallyORCiD
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Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of activeepilepsy in adults in an established demographic surveillance site in rural Tanzania. To describe the clinical characteristics of epilepsy and to estimate the treatment gap in this population. Methods: A pilot study established that a previously validated screening questionnaire was sensitive for detecting cases of epilepsy in a Kiswahili-speaking Tanzanian population. A door-to-door census of the adultpopulation (total 103,026) used the screening questionnaire to identify possible cases of epilepsy, who were then assessed by a research doctor to establish a diagnosis of epilepsy or otherwise. The prevalence of activeepilepsy in this population was estimated with age-standardisation to the WHO standard population. Seizure types and epilepsies were classified according to current recommendations of the International League Against Epilepsy. The treatment gap for epilepsy was estimated based on antiepileptic drug use as reported by cases. Results: Two hundred and ninety-one cases of activeepilepsy, all with convulsive seizures, were identified. The age-standardised prevalence was 2.91/1000 adults (95% CI 2.58–3.24); the crude prevalence adjusted for non-response was 3.84/1000 adults (95% CI 3.45–4.20). Focal-onset seizures accounted for 71.5% of all cases identified. The treatment gap was 68.4% (95% CI 63.0–73.7). Conclusions: This is one of the largestcommunity-based studies of the prevalence of epilepsy in adults conducted in sub-Saharan Africa to date. We identified a lower prevalence than has previously been described in this region. The high proportion of focal onset seizures points to alarge burden of acquired, and possibly preventable, epilepsy in this population. A treatment gap of 68.4% confirms that interventions to raise awareness of the treatable nature of epilepsy are warranted in this and similar populations.
Author(s): Hunter E, Rogathi J, Chigudu S, Jusabani A, Jackson M, McNally R, Gray W, Whittaker RG, Iqbal A, Birchall D, Aris E, Walker R
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Seizure
Year: 2012
Volume: 21
Issue: 9
Pages: 691-698
Print publication date: 09/08/2012
ISSN (print): 1059-1311
ISSN (electronic): 1532-2688
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seizure.2012.07.009
DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2012.07.009
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