National and Regional Prevalence of Self‐reported Epilepsy in Canada

• Published in: Epilepsia (Copenhagen) Vol. 45; no. 12; pp. 1623 - 1629
• Main Authors: Tellez‐Zenteno, José F., Pondal‐Sordo, Margarita, Matijevic, Suzan, Wiebe, Samuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 350 Main Street , Malden , MA 02148 , USA and 9600 Garsington Road , Oxford , OX4 2XG , England Blackwell Science Inc 01.12.2004; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Age‐adjusted prevalence; Anticonvulsants. Antiepileptics. Antiparkinson agents; Biological and medical sciences; Canada; Canada - epidemiology; Child; Child clinical studies; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Developed Countries - statistics & numerical data; Developed country; Educational Status; Employment; Epidemiology; Epilepsy; Epilepsy - epidemiology; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Female; Headache. Facial pains. Syncopes. Epilepsia. Intracranial hypertension. Brain oedema. Cerebral palsy; Health Status; Health Surveys; Humans; Income; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Neuropharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Prevalence; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Social behavior disorders; Surveys and Questionnaires; Canada; North America; America; Nervous system diseases; Prevalence; Epilepsy; Central nervous system disease; Prevalence-Epilepsy-Epidemiology-Developed country- Canada-Age-adjusted prevalence; Epidemiology; Cerebral disorder
• DOI: 10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.24904.x
• ISSN: 0013-9580

Purpose: To assess the point prevalence of self‐described epilepsy in the general population nationally, provincially, and in different groups of interest. Methods: We analyzed data from two national health surveys, the National Population Health Survey (NPHS, N = 49,000) and the Community Health Survey (CHS, N = 130,882). Both surveys captured sociodemographic information, as well as age, sex, education, ethnicity, household income, and labor force status of participants. Epilepsy was ascertained with only one question in both surveys. “Do you have epilepsy diagnosed by a health professional?” (NPHS) and “Do you have epilepsy?” (CHS). Prevalences were age‐adjusted by using national standard populations at the time of each survey. Exact 95% confidence intervals were obtained. Results: In the NPHS, 241 of 49,026 subjects described themselves as having been diagnosed with epilepsy, yielding a weighted point prevalence of 5.2 per 1,000 [95% confidence interval (CI), 4.9–5.4]. In the CHS, 835 of 130,822 subjects described themselves as having epilepsy, yielding a weighted point prevalence of 5.6 per 1,000 (95% CI, 5.1–6.0). Trends in differences in prevalence among some Canadian provinces were observed. Prevalence was statistically significantly higher in groups with the lowest educational level, lowest income, and in those unemployed in the previous year. Prevalence also was higher in nonimmigrants than in immigrants. Conclusions: The overall and group‐specific results are in keeping with those obtained in other developed countries by using different ascertainment methods. We discuss methodologic aspects related to the ascertainment of epilepsy in both surveys, and to the validity and implications of our findings.