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Active epilepsy in mentally retarded children. I. Prevalence and additional neuroimpairments
Author(s) -
Steffenburg U,
Hagberg G,
Viggedal G,
Kyllerman M
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1995.tb13515.x
Subject(s) - cerebral palsy , medicine , mentally retarded , epilepsy , pediatrics , autism , gross motor skill , population , spastic , psychiatry , intellectual disability , motor skill , psychology , developmental psychology , environmental health
A population‐based study of active epilepsy was conducted in 6‐13‐year‐old mentally retarded children born between 1975 and 1986. The population at risk comprised 48 873 children. Ninety‐eight children were identified, 35 mildly and 63 severely retarded. The prevalence was 2.0 per 1000; 0.7 per 1000 for mildly and 1.3 per 1000 for severely retarded children. Sixty‐nine children had at least one additional neuroimpairment. Cerebral palsy was found in 42 children with a majority of spastic/ dystonic tetraplegias; visual impairment was present in 24 and autism in 24. Thirty‐three children had only a mild or no gross motor disability and mild mental retardation, while 23 had IQs <20 and a very severe gross motor disability. This study underlines the fact that active epilepsy in mentally retarded children is often associated with additional neuroimpairments, especially a combination of severe cerebral palsy and severe visual impairment. Children, epilepsy, mental retardation, neuroimpairments, prevalence