title: Epilepsy, comorbid conditions in Canadian children: analysis of cross-sectional data from cycle 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to analyze national survey data to provide estimates of prevalence of epilepsy and associated developmental disabilities and comorbid conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed data from Cycle 3 of Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The NLSCY captured, socio-demographic information, as well as age, sex, education, ethnicity, household income, chronic health related conditions from birth to 15 years old. The main survey question intended to identify "epilepsy", "cerebral palsy", "intellectual disability", "learning disability", and "emotional and nervous difficulties" in the population of children surveyed. Prevalence was based on the national cross-sectional sample and used 1000 bootstrap weights to account for survey design factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cycle 3 of the NLSCY had the largest number of patients with diagnosed epilepsy. Prevalence figures (n/1000) for epilepsy and cerebral palsy (EPI_CP), epilepsy and intellectual disability (EPI_ID), epilepsy and learning disability (EPI_LD), and epilepsy and emotional nervous difficulties (EPI_EMO_NERV) were 1.1, 1.17, 2.58 and 1.34 respectively. Amongst children with epilepsy, 43.17% reported the presence of one or more of the above comorbid conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide an initial prevalence estimate of comorbid conditions with epilepsy in Canadian children. In a high proportion of children with epilepsy, the PMK had reported at least one comorbid disorder. These findings carry implications for health care utilization and long-term outcomes. We discuss methodological aspects related to the ascertainment of epilepsy in both surveys, and to the validity and implications of our findings.
authors.affiliation: Epilepsy Program, London Health Sciences Centre & Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: narayan.prasad@lhsc.on.ca.
authors.forename: Asuri N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: Richard Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada N6A5C2.
authors.forename: Jorge G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Burneo
authors.affiliation: Richard Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada N6A5C2.
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Corbett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male
keywords: Cerebral palsy; Children; Comorbid; Epilepsy; Learning disability; Population studies