Abstracts

The Incidence and Descriptive Epidemiology of Childhood Status Epilepticus in Northern Nigeria

Abstract number : 1.368
Submission category : 16. Epidemiology
Year : 2021
Submission ID : 1825482
Source : www.aesnet.org
Presentation date : 12/4/2021 12:00:00 PM
Published date : Nov 22, 2021, 06:43 AM

Authors :
Edwin Trevathan, MD, MPH - Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Umar Sabo, MBBS, MSc - Consultant and Lecturer in Paediatric Neurology, Paediatrics, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital & Bayero University Kano; Heather Prigmore, MPH - Biostatistics - Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Aminu Taura, MBBS, MSc - Psychiatry - Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital & Bayero University Kano; Halima Adamu, MBBS - Paediatrics - Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital & Bayero University Kano; Auwal Salihu, MBBS, MSc - Psychiatry - Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital & Bayero University Kano; Muktar Aliyu, MBBS, DrPH - Health Policy - Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Bryan Shepherd, PhD - Biostatistics - Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Zubairu Iliyasu, MBBS, PhD - Community Medicine - Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital & Bayero University Kano

Rationale: Childhood status epilepticus (SE) is a common life-threatening emergency. Little is known of the incidence and descriptive epidemiology of SE in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Prior to SE surveillance, a uniform medical record form for SE was implemented for emergency medical facilities in Kano, Nigeria. Surveillance sources were Kano’s three large emergency pediatric units (EPUs), secondary hospitals, a random selection of 8 of Kano's 146 community-based Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs), stratified by local government area (LGA), and an epilepsy clinic. Data were abstracted from medical records for children ages >1 month < 15 years into REDCap®. The 2015 ILAE operational definition of tonic-clonic SE, focal SE with impaired consciousness, and absence SE was utilized. Children were defined as living within study area if they resided in one of Kano city metropolitan area’s eight local government areas (LGAs).

Results: From 1 September 2018 - 30 August 2019, 972 children with SE (CSE) were ascertained in hospitals and EPUs. We estimated, based upon 52 CSE identified at the 8 sampled PHCs, that approximately 949 CSE presented to PHCs in Kano during the study period. The population of children < 15 years in Kano's LGAs during the study period was 1,960,057. The overall childhood SE incidence in Kano, Nigeria during 2018-19 was estimated at 98.01 per 100,000 per year.

Of the children (1080; 56.23% male) with SE, 1703 (88.65%) were reported to have had a febrile illness around the time of the SE, and 949 (49.41%) of the total were reported to have a diagnosis of malaria at or near the time of the SE episode, and 118 (6.14%) were diagnosed with a central nervous system infection. Only 162 of the 1921 (8.41%) children had a documented prior history of epilepsy. 1403 (73.03%) of children with SE were classified as having generalized onset SE, while 518 (26.97%) had focal onset SE. Serum glucose was determined in 562 (29.26%), and of these 57 (10.14%) had serum glucose levels <
Epidemiology