Epidemiological profile of epilepsy in a hospital population in Lima, Peru

Introduction. Epilepsy is a chronic disorder with important personal and collective consequences. Its epidemiology has received widespread attention in numerous studies concerning the general population, but not in hospitals, where the population differs in the way it must be handled and followed-up. Aims. The main purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of patients with a discharge diagnosis of epilepsy and the prevalence of the different types of epilepsy according to age groups. Patients and methods. We conducted a descriptive, retrospective study based on the discharge registry of 121 patients with a discharge diagnosis of epilepsy who were attended in the Neurology Unit at the Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara between January 2000 and December 2001. The variables obtained were age, sex, age of onset of seizures and the kind of seizures. The mean, standard deviation and variance analysis were employed, according to the type of variable used. Results. The patients were between 3 and 90 years old (mean: 40.79 years), the male/female ratio was 65156 (1.16:1). Age at onset of the seizures varied from 1-90 years (mean: 36.6). Predominance of partial seizures (52.07%), followed by generalised clonic tonic seizures (47.11%). Of the partial seizures, 33.33% were simple partial, 14.29% were complex partial and 52.38% were secondarily generalised; no significant differences were found according to age groups. Conclusions. The epidemiological profile of hospitalised patients diagnosed as suffering from epilepsy is similar to that observed in the population outside the hospital, and there are no variations from one age bracket to another There is a need for further complementary studies to help in the development of a correct classification.