Open AccessPrevalence of adult epilepsy in a general Japanese population: The Hisayama study
Author(s) -
Tanaka Akihiro,
Hata Jun,
Akamatsu Naoki,
Mukai Naoko,
Hirakawa Yoichiro,
Yoshida Daigo,
Kishimoto Hiro,
Ohara Tomoyuki,
Mizuno Toshiki,
Tsuji Sadatoshi,
Kitazono Takanari,
Ninomiya Toshiharu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
epilepsia open
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.247
H-Index - 16
ISSN - 2470-9239
DOI - 10.1002/epi4.12295
Subject(s) - epilepsy , medicine , confidence interval , pediatrics , population , psychiatry , environmental health
Summary The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence and causes of adult epilepsy in a general Japanese population. We examined a total of 3333 Japanese residents in the town of Hisayama aged ≥40 years in 2012‐2013. The examination was performed mainly at the municipal center for health promotion, but some subjects were examined in their homes, hospitals, or nursing homes. Twenty‐three subjects had a diagnosis of epilepsy. The prevalence (95% confidence interval [ CI ]) of epilepsy per 1000 was 6.9 (4.1‐9.7) in total, 4.9 (1.3‐8.5) in men, and 8.4 (4.3‐12.5) in women ( P = 0.23 between sexes). The prevalence of epilepsy was significantly higher in the elderly (aged ≥65 years; 10.3 per 1000 [95% CI 5.4‐15.1]) than in the middle‐aged (aged 40‐64 years; 3.6 per 1000 [95% CI 0.7‐6.4]; P = 0.02). The major cause of epilepsy was cerebrovascular diseases (n = 11; 48% of the epilepsy patients). More than half of the epilepsy patients experienced the first episode of seizure in older age (≥65 years; n = 13; 57%). The findings of this study suggest the clinical importance of the prevention of cerebrovascular diseases to reduce the burden of epilepsy in the future.