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. 2023 Apr:107:162-171.
doi: 10.1016/j.seizure.2022.06.010. Epub 2022 Jun 23.

Estimates of epilepsy prevalence, psychiatric co-morbidity and cost

Jakob Christensen  1 , Julie Werenberg Dreier  2 , Yuelian Sun  3 , Christine Linehan  4 , Torbjörn Tomson  5 , Anthony Marson  6 , Lars Forsgren  7 , Claudia A Granbichler  8 , Eugen Trinka  9 , Catrinel Illiescu  10 , Kristina Malmgren  11 , Jakob Kjellberg  12 , Rikke Ibsen  13 , Poul Jorgen Jennum  14 ; ESBACE Consortium and ESBACE Collaborators
Affiliations
Free article

Estimates of epilepsy prevalence, psychiatric co-morbidity and cost

Jakob Christensen et al. Seizure. 2023 Apr.
Free article

Abstract

Purpose: This study estimated epilepsy prevalence, psychiatric co-morbidity and annual costs associated with epilepsy.

Methods: We used Danish national health registers to identify persons diagnosed with epilepsy and psychiatric disorders, and persons using antiseizure medication and persons using drugs for psychiatric disorders. We calculated the prevalence of epilepsy and co-morbid psychiatric disorders in Denmark on December 31, 2016, using information on epilepsy and psychiatric disorders based on combinations of hospital contacts and use of antiseizure and psychoactive medication. Further, direct and indirect annual costs associated with epilepsy were calculated using individual-level data from a range of socioeconomic registers.

Results: There were 5,044,367 persons alive and living in Denmark on December 31, 2016, including 33,628 persons with at least one hospital contact with epilepsy in the previous five years (epilepsy prevalence 0.67% (0.69% males; 0.65% females)). Among these persons with epilepsy, we identified 12,562 (37.4%) persons with a psychiatric disorder or use of drugs used for psychiatric disorders as compared with 801,052 (15.9%) persons in the general population. The estimated total annual individual net costs associated with epilepsy was €30,683. Compared with prevalence estimates on December 31, 2006, the prevalence of epilepsy on December 31, 2016, was slightly higher in the older population and slightly lower in children CONCLUSIONS: Population estimates from national registers provide epilepsy prevalence estimates of approximately 0.6-0.7% - similar to previous reviews of epilepsy prevalence. In addition, the national sample allowed idenitfication of high prevalence of psychiatric disorders and high societal costs associated with epielspy.

Keywords: Cost; Epidemiology; Prevalence; Psychiatric co-morbidity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest Dr. Christensen reports personal fees from Eisai AB, personal fees from UCB Nordic, during the conduct of the study. Dr. Dreier reports grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, grants from Health Research Fund of Central Denmark Region, grants from The Danish Epilepsy Association, during the conduct of the study. Dr. Tomson reports grants from Eisai, grants from GSK, grants from UCB, grants from Bial, personal fees from Eisai, personal fees from Sanofi, personal fees from Sun Pharma, personal fees from UCB, grants from Stockholm County Council, grants from CURE, outside the submitted work. The other authors have nothing to disclose.