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Clinical characteristics of patients with treated epilepsy in K orea: A nationwide epidemiologic study
Author(s) -
Kim Dong Wook,
Lee SeoYoung,
Chung SooEun,
Cheong HaeKwan,
Jung KiYoung
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/epi.12469
Subject(s) - epilepsy , medicine , population , pediatrics , stroke (engine) , medical record , referral , epidemiology , incidence (geometry) , psychiatry , family medicine , mechanical engineering , physics , environmental health , optics , engineering
Summary Objective Although a number of epidemiologic studies have been conducted on the prevalence and incidence of epilepsy around the world, only a few studies have investigated the clinical characteristics of patients with epilepsy in a population‐based sample. The purpose of the present study was to describe the clinical characteristics of treated patients with epilepsy in K orea via a nationwide medical records survey. Methods The study population was obtained through a nationwide database registered to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment service. Patients were recruited from clinics and hospitals in each cluster according to region and referral level by random selection from a preallocated sample of patients. All patients were being treated with antiepileptic drug medication with or without a diagnosis code for epilepsy or seizure between J anuary 2009 and D ecember 2009. Among the 6,436 selected patients, 2,150 met the diagnostic criteria for epilepsy and were included in our survey on the clinical characteristics of patients who were with treated epilepsy. Results The proportion of male patients with epilepsy in this study was higher (1,226; 57.0%) than that of female patients. In addition, 10.6% of patients were first diagnosed with epilepsy in 2009, and 53.6% of patients experienced at least one seizure over the course of 2009; 78.1% were classified as having localization‐related epilepsy, whereas 7.3% were considered to have generalized epilepsy. Thirty‐five percent of patients were thus classified as idiopathic or cryptogenic cases. The most common cause of symptomatic epilepsy was trauma (10.0%), followed by stroke (9.6%), central nervous system ( CNS ) infection (5.7%), and hippocampal sclerosis (4.9%). Significance This is the first nationwide study of the clinical characteristics of treated epilepsy in K orea using a national database validated by medical records survey. The etiologies of epilepsy and epilepsy syndrome classifications were comparable to those previously reported in other developed countries.