Publication:

Clinico-social profile of adult patients with uncontrolled seizures attending a neurology OPD at a tertiary care hospital in Goa

Background Of the 70 million persons with epilepsy (PWE) worldwide, nearly 12 million PWE are expected to reside in India. Nearly one-third of the patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy on long-term follow-up will have their seizures unsatisfactorily controlled by treatment with available anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Objective of this study was to study the clinico-social profile of adult patients with uncontrolled seizures.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 3 months among 106 patients with uncontrolled seizures. Universal sampling was used to select the participants, and a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data.

Results Poor compliance to medication was the most common cause for uncontrolled seizures (51.8%) and was significantly associated with those who were prescribed <3 AEDs (OR=2.532, p=0.041). Focal with impaired awareness (34.9%) and generalised tonic clonic seizures (GTCS) (34.9%) were the most commonly seen.

Conclusions Patient compliance is of utmost importance in maintaining good seizure control.