<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_joepi-2015-0036_s_001"><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Epidemiological studies on epilepsy were long based, with few exceptions, on hospital and institution patients with a subsequent bias toward more difficult cases and the reported prevalence and incidence rates were often obviously too low. Few data are available on the temporal changes in the incidence of epilepsy.</p></sec><sec id="j_joepi-2015-0036_s_002"><h3>Aim</h3><p>To study the prevalence and incidence in an unselected child population including all the children living either in the society or in the institution, temporal changes in the incidence and mortality through five decades.</p></sec><sec id="j_joepi-2015-0036_s_003"><h3>Methods</h3><p>The most important personal data were reviewed and compared with the relevant data of other investigators.</p></sec><sec id="j_joepi-2015-0036_s_004"><h3>Results and discussion</h3><p>The prevalence of epilepsy in our study was 3.2/1000, quite obviously true for the contemporary methodology and well comparable with 3.4-4.2/1000 of other relevant studies published about two decades later and using a more advanced methodology. Similarly, the incidence of 35/100 000, ascertained in two Finnish studies, was comparable with the relevant contemporary literature data. Another study of ours shows that, probably associated with the people “coming from the shadows” and an improved diagnostic methodology, the incidence of childhood epilepsy has increased and is now 60-70/100 000. However, the incidence of childhood epilepsy shows an obvious decreasing trend in the first two decades of the 2000s.</p></sec><sec id="j_joepi-2015-0036_s_005"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The incidence of childhood epilepsy, in all probability true for the contemporary methodology, was lower than it is now, but it now again shows a decreasing trend.</p></sec></abstract>

IntroductionEpidemiological studies on epilepsy were long based, with few exceptions, on hospital and institution patients with a subsequent bias toward more difficult cases and the reported prevalence and incidence rates were often obviously too low. Few data are available on the temporal changes in the incidence of epilepsy.AimTo study the prevalence and incidence in an unselected child population including all the children living either in the society or in the institution, temporal changes in the incidence and mortality through five decades.MethodsThe most important personal data were reviewed and compared with the relevant data of other investigators.Results and discussionThe prevalence of epilepsy in our study was 3.2/1000, quite obviously true for the contemporary methodology and well comparable with 3.4-4.2/1000 of other relevant studies published about two decades later and using a more advanced methodology. Similarly, the incidence of 35/100 000, ascertained in two Finnish studies, was comparable with the relevant contemporary literature data. Another study of ours shows that, probably associated with the people “coming from the shadows” and an improved diagnostic methodology, the incidence of childhood epilepsy has increased and is now 60-70/100 000. However, the incidence of childhood epilepsy shows an obvious decreasing trend in the first two decades of the 2000s.ConclusionsThe incidence of childhood epilepsy, in all probability true for the contemporary methodology, was lower than it is now, but it now again shows a decreasing trend.

Epidemiology and long-term Turku outcome of childhood-onset epilepsy and mortality. Personal experiences. Part I<sup>*</sup>

Journal of Epileptology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Epidemiology and long-term Turku outcome of childhood-onset epilepsy and mortality. Personal experiences. Part I

IntroductionEpidemiological studies on epilepsy were long based, with few exceptions, on hospital and institution patients with a subsequent bias toward more...

Epidemiology and long-term Turku outcome of childhood-onset epilepsy and mortality. Personal experiences. Part I^*

Published Online: Dec 23, 2015

Page range: 149 - 157

Received: Nov 09, 2015

Accepted: Dec 22, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/joepi-2015-0036

Keywords
childhood-onset epilepsy, incidence of childhood epilepsy, mortality in epilepsy, population-based study, prevalence of childhood epilepsy, temporal changes in the incidence

© 2015 Matti Sillanpää et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Epidemiology and long-term Turku outcome of childhood-onset epilepsy and mortality. Personal experiences. Part I*

Published Online: Dec 23, 2015

Page range: 149 - 157

Received: Nov 09, 2015

Accepted: Dec 22, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/joepi-2015-0036

Keywordschildhood-onset epilepsy, incidence of childhood epilepsy, mortality in epilepsy, population-based study, prevalence of childhood epilepsy, temporal changes in the incidence

© 2015 Matti Sillanpää et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Epidemiology and long-term Turku outcome of childhood-onset epilepsy and mortality. Personal experiences. Part I^*

Keywords
childhood-onset epilepsy, incidence of childhood epilepsy, mortality in epilepsy, population-based study, prevalence of childhood epilepsy, temporal changes in the incidence