Prevalence of epilepsy in the Parsi community of Bombay

Abstract

A door-to-door survey was carried out to screen a community of 14,010 people (Parsis living in colonies in Bombay, India) for possible neurologic diseases. High school graduates, social workers, and medical students administered a screening questionnaire that in a pilot survey had a sensitivity of 100% for identifying persons with epilepsy. Neurologists used defined diagnostic criteria to evaluate individuals positive on the screening survey. Sixty-six persons (43 males, 23 females) suffered from epilepsy (4.7 cases/1,000). Of those, 50 (34 males, 16 females) had active epilepsy (3.6 cases/1,000). The age-specific prevalence ratios remained fairly constant for each age group except for a small peak in the group aged 20-39 years for all epilepsy cases combined. Age-adjusted prevalence ratios were higher for males. The most common seizure type was partial (36 cases). The most frequently associated conditions were cerebral palsy and mental retardation. The majority of individuals were receiving medication as of prevalence day (47 cases).