Elsevier

Seizure

Volume 17, Issue 5, July 2008, Pages 457-464
Seizure

An epidemiological study of epilepsy in Hong Kong SAR, China

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seizure.2007.12.005Get rights and content
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Summary

Background

Several specialist clinic-based epidemiology studies suggested low prevalence in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China. Population-based epidemiological data for epilepsy is not available. We performed the first population-based epidemiological survey of epilepsy in this locality.

Method

We conducted a territory-wide survey. We randomly selected 9547 households from fixed-line telephone directory. We successfully surveyed 17,783 persons of 5178 households by telephone interview. All positive respondents 685 (3.85%) were invited for clinical validation. 127 subjects were validated by board-certified neurologists.

Results

Seizure disorders were confirmed in 28 subjects. The crude prevalence of active epilepsy and seizure disorder were estimated to be 3.94/1000 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.10–6.74/1000) and 8.49/1000 (95% CI: 5.64–12.27/1000), respectively.

Conclusions

The prevalence of epilepsy in HKSAR is more common than previously thought. The data retrieved is useful for planning and allocation of health resources for patients with seizure disorders.

Keywords

Epilepsy
Prevalence
Epidemiology
Population-based
Hong Kong

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