Journal article
Prevalence of epilepsy: a population-based cohort study in Denmark with comparison to Global Burden of Disease (GBD) prevalence estimates
- Abstract:
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Background The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) produces prevalence estimates for ‘idiopathic epilepsy’ (ie, of unknown aetiology) and ‘secondary epilepsy’ (ie, with known aetiology) but does not report prevalence by underlying aetiologies for ‘secondary epilepsy’.Methods We used nationwide, population-based register data from Denmark to identify underlying causes of epilepsy and their contribution to prevalence of ‘secondary epilepsy’ and compared with global prevalence data from GBD 2019. We identified all persons with a hospital-based epilepsy diagnosis and a filled prescription for antiseizure medication between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2018. Epilepsy was categorised into ‘idiopathic’ or ‘secondary’ and ‘total epilepsy’ as the sum of the two epilepsy categories.Results On 31 December 2018, a total of 5 784 284 individuals (49.7% males) were living in Denmark including 40 336 with epilepsy (51.5% males). Perinatal conditions, traumatic brain injury, brain tumours and stroke were prominent underlying causes of ‘secondary epilepsy’. The prevalence of ‘total epilepsy’ in Denmark was 697 (95% CI 691 to 704) per 100 000 population (264 (95% CI 260 to 269) for ‘secondary epilepsy’ and 433 (95% CI 428 to 438) for ‘idiopathic epilepsy’). In the GBD 2019 Study, the prevalence of ‘total epilepsy’ in 2018 was 682 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 586 to 784) per 100 000 population (359 (95% UI 324–397) for ‘secondary epilepsy’ and 324 (95% UI 249 to 404) for ‘idiopathic epilepsy’).Conclusions Prevalence estimates of ‘total epilepsy’, ‘idiopathic epilepsy’ and ‘secondary epilepsy’ in Denmark align with the GBD 2019 estimates. In future studies, it is suggested to explicitly include all types of epilepsy, including ‘secondary epilepsy’, which is currently estimated as sequelae (consequences) of underlying diseases.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 880.9KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1136/jnnp-2024-334547
Authors
+ Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/02qx2s478
- Publisher:
- BMJ Publishing Group
- Journal:
- Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry More from this journal
- Volume:
- 96
- Issue:
- 5
- Pages:
- 480–488
- Place of publication:
- England
- Publication date:
- 2024-11-12
- Acceptance date:
- 2024-10-05
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1468-330X
- ISSN:
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0022-3050
- Pmid:
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39532519
- Language:
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English
- Pubs id:
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2064173
- Local pid:
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pubs:2064173
- Deposit date:
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2025-01-27
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Christensen et al
- Copyright date:
- 2024
- Rights statement:
- © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial.
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