title: Epilepsy and mortality in Latin America.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the mortality related to epilepsy in Latin America.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and LILACS from inception to December 2013 for articles evaluating mortality in patients with epilepsy in Latin America. Studies were included if they evaluated any mortality outcome, included a population of subjects with recurrent seizures or epilepsy, and contained original data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The search strategy yielded 177 publications in MEDLINE and EMBASE, and 59 publications in LILACS; of which 18 met inclusion criteria for our overall review of epilepsy and mortality in Latin America. Most excluded studies did not report the mortality or lacked original data. We also included two references obtained from 2 non-systematic reviews fulfilling our inclusion criteria, and able to provide data for our analyses. Five studies reported Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR), and demonstrated that people with epilepsy had a higher risk of death than the general population. The SMRs reported in two community-based studies were 1.34 and 2.45.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The information about mortality in epilepsy in Latin America is very scarce. Comparisons cannot be made among studies due to methodological differences. More studies are needed.
authors.affiliation: Epilepsy Program, Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Alejandro L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Escalaya
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Jose F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Tellez-Zenteno
authors.affiliation: Epilepsy Program, Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Steven
authors.affiliation: Epilepsy Program, Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: jburneo2@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Jorge G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Burneo
mesh_terms: D004827:Epilepsy / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Epilepsy; Latin America; Mortality; SUDEP