title: Incidence and prevalence of epilepsy in adults in eastern Finland.
abstract: In Finland, only limited data exist on the epidemiology of epilepsy in adults. This prompted us to study the incidence and prevalence of epilepsy in a population over 15 years of age, residing in Eastern Finland. In a retrospective study, various medical data sources were used to identify and reexamine all patients with established or suspected epileptic seizures during 1960-1979. A total of 1,233 patients with active epilepsy were identified. Mean annual incidence of epilepsy was 24/100,000. Age-specific incidence ratios tended to increase with advancing age. Prevalence of active epilepsy was 629/100,000. Both prevalence and incidence were higher in males than in females. Age-specific prevalence of active epilepsy increased until 40-50 years of age, and declined in the oldest age groups. Of the various seizure types, highest prevalence ratios were observed for partial secondarily generalized seizures, complex partial seizures, and tonic-clonic seizures. Prevalence of partial seizures and generalized seizures had a different age-related pattern.
authors: Department of Neurology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Keränen
authors: P J
authors: PJ
authors: Riekkinen
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Sillanpää
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors