Epilepsy: More Common Than You Thought

A new study on the prevalence and incidence of epilepsy in the US using administrative claims data, presented by Sandra Helmers, MD, MPH, Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at Emory University at the recent American Epilepsy Society meeting, shows that the annual epilepsy incidence is distinctly higher than estimated by an evidence-based review of population-based incidence studies. The combined weighted age-specific estimates of epilepsy incidence show a distribution similar to those of many other studies.

Just knowing that there are 8 cases of epilepsy among every 1,000 patients should help keep the diagnosis of epilepsy on the radar of clinicians, she says.