The epidemiological and clinical characteristics study on epilepsy in 8 ethnic groups of China.

To survey the epidemiological characteristics and clinical features on epilepsy in eight ethnic groups in Yunnan province of China.

METHODES: The investigation was based on the WHO questionnaire and ICBERG screening questionnaire. This study was performed through random cluster sampling and door-to-door survey.

RESULTS: A total of 76,302 individuals from eight ethnic groups were surveyed. The crude prevalence of epilepsy ranged from 1.2/1000 to 6.5/1000 in the eight ethnic groups, and the age-adjusted prevalence of epilepsy was from 2.1/1000 to 7.3/1000. The prevalence of active epilepsy varied from 1.0/1000 to 5.2/1000 in the eight ethnic groups, and the age-adjusted prevalence of active epilepsy was from 1.8/1000 to 6.7/1000. The age peak for seizures was below twenty, the patients of 61.1%-95.0% suffered from generalized seizures and 5%-21.2% had partial seizures. More than 60% of the cases in five ethnic groups, and the frequency of seizures were more than 10 events per year. More than 50% in other three ethnic groups, and the seizures had occurred less than 10 events per year. The treatment gap for active epilepsy ranged from 43.7% to 100.0% among the eight ethnic groups, while the natural remission rate varied from 5.6% to 21.0%.

CONCLUSION: There were both disparity and similarity in the epidemiological and clinical features of epilepsy in different ethnic group communities.