Epilepsy in prison: elevated prevalence and no relationship to violence.
The epidemiologic, clinical, and social characteristics of epilepsy were investigated in men entering the Illinois prison system and compared with a matched control group of prisoners without epilepsy. The prevalence of epilepsy was 2.4%, four times higher than the prevalence among men aged 20 to 39 in Rochester, MN. Head trauma was the probable cause of epilepsy among 45% of the prisoners with epilepsy, a much higher percentage than that reported in studies of other populations. In comparison with an age- and race-matched group of prisoners without epilepsy, the epilepsy group was not convicted of more serious or more violent crimes.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008297:Male; D011329:Prisoners; D014754:Violence