This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Serdaroglu, A. Articles by Aycan, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Serdaroglu, A. Articles by Aycan, S. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Prevalence of Epilepsy in Turkish Children Between the Ages of 0 and 16 Years

Aye Serdaroglu, MD

Departments of Pediatric Neurology, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Seçil Ozkan, MD

Department of Public Health, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Kürad Aydin, MD

Departments of Pediatric Neurology, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Kivilcim Gücüyener, MD

Departments of Pediatric Neurology, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Sabahat Tezcan, MD

Department of Public Health, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Sefer Aycan, MD

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of epilepsy in Turkey among children between the ages of 0 and 16 years. The study population consisted of 24,773,569 children living in Turkey. Because the prevalence of childhood epilepsy is reported to be 0.001 to 1% in the literature, the sample size was determined as 48,260, with 0.05 error type I and 0.10 error type 2 (power 0.90), and the effect size was 2. With the cluster sampling method, samples were selected from cities, towns, districts, and villages, and 46,813 (97%) children were reached. The study questionnaire contained sections with individual informational questions and questions for the selection of suspected epilepsy cases and physical examination results. The epilepsy classification was designed according to the classification of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). The prevalence of epilepsy was determined as 0.8%; 55.2% of the subjects with epilepsy were grouped as generalized, 39% as partial, and 5.8% as unidentified. Age, place of residence, route of delivery, place of delivery, and social and economic status had no statistically significant effect on the development of epilepsy. Male gender, preterm, and post-term delivery increased the risk of developing epilepsy. Early diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, as well as the education of health workers and families, are very important. (J Child Neurol 2004;19:271-274).

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 19, No. 4, 271-274 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/088307380401900406


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?