Abstracts

Rationale: Determining the epidemiology of epilepsy in the general population is essential to providing appropriate care. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of epilepsy among residents of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, stratifying by age and gender. Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort design was used and data was extracted from the ten provincial health administrative databases linked to each individual by a unique health services number. This cohort included individuals with the first identification of epilepsy from January 01, 2001 to December 31, 2010, based on meeting criteria for case definition of epilepsy from one of two administrative health databases (hospital separation data and physician’s service data). The case definition was fulfilled if the subject had at least one hospital separation with a diagnosis of epilepsy (ICD-9 345 or ICD-10-Ca G40) during the ten year period or had two physician visits within 730 days before or within the ten-year period of the study (sensitivity= 88.9 95%CI 85.4-92.5 and specificity =92.4 95%CI 85.7-92.8) Results: The total number of people in Saskatchewan, Canada living with epilepsy in 2010 was 8,880 representing a crude prevalence of 8.51 per 1,000 person (95%CI=8.34, 8.69). After adjustment with the Canadian population, the prevalence of epilepsy in Saskatchewan was 8.78 per 1,000 person (95%CI= 8.60, 8.97). In females the age-standardized prevalence was 9.17 per 1,000 person (95%CI=8.90, 9.43) in males and 8.41 per 1,000 person (95%CI=8.15, 8.66). Over the six-year study period (2005-2010), there was an increase in the age-standardized prevalence from 6.58 in 2005 (95%CI=6.19, 6.49) to 8.78 per 1,000 person in 2010 (95%CI=8.60, 8.97). There was a tri-modal pattern in the overall age-specific epilepsy prevalence with peaks in the 15-19 age group (8.68 per 1,000 person; 95% CI 8.03, 9.37), the 35-39 age group (12.47 per 1,000 person; 95%CI=11.65, 13.36) and then a slow rise towards the 80-84 age group (11.86 per 1,000 person; 95%CI= 10.58, 13.30) Conclusions: This study describes prevalence rates of epilepsy in Canadian population. Prevalence between males and females was not different. The increase rates of prevalence in young adults could be attributed the presence of brain tumors and brain trauma. In elderly could be related with the occurrence of dementia and strokes. Our findings are foundational for public awareness and policy recommendations, health promotion and prevention strategies, appropriate health resource planning, and research priorities. Funding: Department of Medicine-University of Saskatchewan