Epidemiologic study of epilepsy in young Singaporean men.
OBJECTIVE
This survey of 20,542 Singaporean men born in 1974 studied the clinical features of young men diagnosed with epilepsy on preenlistment screening.


METHODS
All male citizens in Singapore are medically screened at age 18 years before enlistment for compulsory military service. Patients suspected to have epilepsy are then referred to government hospitals for further management. We interviewed the patients and their parents and reviewed their hospital records.


RESULTS
Eighty-nine patients with epilepsy were identified, indicating a lifetime prevalence of 4.9/1,000 males by age 18 years. The lifetime prevalence of epilepsy among Chinese, Malays, and Indians were 5.2, 2.8, and 6.4/1,000, respectively; these differences were not statistically significant. The mean age of seizure onset was 11.1 years. Generalized seizures (65.2%) were commoner than partial seizures (34.8%); common seizure types included generalized tonic-clonic seizures (52.8%), complex partial seizures with secondary generalization (24.7%), and myoclonic seizures (5.6%). Common epileptic syndromes included temporal lobe epilepsy (16.9%), juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (5.6%), and frontal lobe epilepsy (2.2%). Eighty-four (94.4%) patients sought medical treatment, and seven (7.9%) patients sought additional traditional treatment. Although 70 (78.7%) patients responded to medication, 14 (15.7%) patients remained refractory to treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
The lifetime prevalence of epilepsy in young Singaporean men was 4.9/1,000. The majority (65.2%) had generalized seizures. Temporal lobe epilepsy was the commonest (16.9%) defined epilepsy syndrome. More patients with epilepsy (94.4%) sought medical treatment, although 15.7% remained refractory to medication.
Kun
L N
LN
Department of Neurology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
Ling
L W
LW
Wah
Y W
YW
Lian
T T
TT
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000453:epidemiology; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008889:Military Personnel; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000927:Anticonvulsants