Abstracts

Rationale: This study describes the proportion of household members with epilepsy or seizure disorder from a large U.S. cross-sectional survey as well as their patterns of medication use and comorbidities. Methods: An 11-item survey was mailed between January-April 2008 to approximately 150,000 households from a panel of households selected to be representative of the U.S. population (Findings from CRS-OUT-008). Surveys from 74,858 households were returned (approximately 49.9% response) providing data for 167,844 household members. Data on occurrence of seizures or convulsions, medication use, and comorbidities diagnosed by a health professional were collected from a total of 147,769 individuals (one respondent per household provided data on him or herself and up to three others). These data were used to estimate the proportion of household members with epilepsy or seizure disorder and describe demographics, comorbidities and medication use for these household members. Results: Survey respondents reported that 2,747 (1.9%) household members had ever been told that they had epilepsy or seizure disorder. Among these household members the average age was 45 + 19 (S.D.) years, 55% were female, and 90% (n=2,473) were taking prescription medications for epilepsy or seizures. 39% (n=1,079) had seizure or convulsion activity in the past 12-months while 26% (n=722) had a seizure or convulsion caused by high fever as a child. Each of the following comorbidities was reported in more than 10% of household members with epilepsy or seizure disorder: high blood pressure (31.4%), depression (28.1%), migraine (23.8%), asthma (21.1%), chronic pain (19.4%), anxiety disorder (19.1%), sleep disorder (16.5%), diabetes (14.5%), severe head injury (13.4%) and stroke (10.1%). Prescription medication use for each of the following conditions was also reported in more than 10% of household members with epilepsy or seizure disorder: high blood pressure (25.8%), depression (18.8%), asthma (14.7%), chronic pain (14.2%), migraine (13.8%), anxiety disorder (13.0%) and diabetes (11.5%). Conclusions: In this study, epilepsy or seizure disorder was reported in 1.9% of the population. Comorbidities and medications used to treat these conditions were frequently reported and may be important considerations in the management of patients with epilepsy or seizure disorder. Further research is warranted to examine the impact of comorbidities and medication use on treatment outcomes in patients with epilepsy.