The prevalence of seizures in children with developmental delay

Objectives: To study the prevalence of seizures in children with GDD and identify the characteristics of such patients; to examine the association of GDD with epilepsy and to determine the effect of certain risk factors on this association. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study conducted at the pediatric neurology and developmental assessment clinic at King Fahad specialist hospital (KFSH), Saudi Arabia. All data were collected by reviewing the electronic medical records of 200 pediatric patients who presented with global developmental delay from February 2016 to April 2018. Results: The sample includes 200 children (113 males, 87 females) aged zero to 12 years. The largest group of participants came from the Dammam region, representing 27.5% of the sample. The prevalence of epilepsy in GDD patients was 56%; the epilepsy and non-epilepsy groups differed significantly in age. The most common type of seizure was generalized onset motor, which were observed in 37.5% of the sample. Problems during labor occurred in 15% of the sample; consanguineous marriage occurred in 61.6% of the participants. Neither of these factors differed significantly in the epilepsy and non-epilepsy groups. Advanced paternal age did differ significantly in the two groups (p=0.003). Conclusion: The prevalence of epilepsy is high in children with GDD, and of the factors studied here, the most significant variables affecting this correlation are the type of seizure and advanced paternal age.