Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 12.
doi: 10.1111/epi.18533. Online ahead of print.

Population-based prevalence of epilepsy in Uganda: A nationwide cross-sectional survey

Angelina Kakooza-Mwesige  1   2 , Anthony T Fuller  3 , Paula N Njeru  3   4   5 , Fredrick E Makumbi  6 , Christine Muhumuza  3   6 , Noeline Nakasujja  7 , Mark Kaddumukasa  8 , Martin N Kaddumukasa  8   9 , Juliet Nakku  10 , Michael M Haglund  3   4   5 , Brad J Kolls  3   11   12 , Taimur Hassan  3   13 , Dirk E Teuwen  14 , Deborah C Koltai  3   4   15
Affiliations

Population-based prevalence of epilepsy in Uganda: A nationwide cross-sectional survey

Angelina Kakooza-Mwesige et al. Epilepsia. .

Abstract

Objective: Establishing the prevalence of epilepsy in Uganda is crucial to inform interventions and public policy. We conducted a nationwide survey to determine epilepsy prevalence.

Methods: From January 2019 to July 2022, a door-to-door survey was conducted across all four regions of Uganda, targeting a nationally representative sample of households. Trained field teams identified and interviewed heads of households to obtain demographic information, and three household members were randomly selected for epilepsy screening. A two-part survey, adapted from a validated standardized epilepsy questionnaire in low- and middle-income countries, was used for screening. To ensure the accuracy of the prevalence estimates, a subset of screened individuals underwent clinical validation by a qualified neurologist. Epilepsy was defined per the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) criteria. We employed Monte Carlo simulation to extrapolate prevalence estimates.

Results: We identified and screened 35 055 participants (53.5% female). The ages ranged from 1 month to 108 years, with a mean age of 20.7 years. The overall crude epilepsy prevalence was estimated at 16.9 per 1000 persons, with an age- and sex-adjusted prevalence rate of 17.8 per 1000. The differences in sex-specific prevalence rates were not statistically significant. The highest age-specific prevalence rate of 25.0 per 1000 occurred in the 20- to 39 -year age group. There was a substantial variation in epilepsy prevalence across the various regions, with the highest prevalence recorded in the eastern region and the lowest in the northern region.

Significance: Our study underscores the high epilepsy burden in Uganda, particularly among adults, and reveals age, gender, and geographical variation likely arising from disparities in the underlying determinants. Identification of these factors is crucial for addressing treatment gaps and reducing epilepsy prevalence.

Keywords: Uganda; epilepsy; population‐based; prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. World Health Organization. Epilepsy: a public health initiative. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019.
    1. Ngugi AK, Bottomley C, Kleinschmidt I, Sander JW, Newton CR. Estimation of the burden of active and life‐time epilepsy: a meta‐analytic approach. Epilepsia. 2010;51(5):883–890. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528‐1167.2009.02481.x
    1. GBD 2016 Epilepsy Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of epilepsy, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2016. Lancet Neurol. 2019;18(4):357–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474‐4422(18)30454‐X
    1. Fiest KM, Sauro KM, Wiebe S, Patten SB, Kwon C‐S, Dykeman J, et al. Prevalence and incidence of epilepsy: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of international studies. Neurology. 2017;88(3):296–303. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000003509
    1. Owolabi LF, Adamu B, Jibo AM, Owolabi SD, Isa AI, Alhaji ID, et al. Prevalence of active epilepsy, lifetime epilepsy prevalence, and burden of epilepsy in sub‐Saharan Africa from meta‐analysis of door‐to‐door population‐based surveys. Epilepsy Behav. 2020;103(Pt A):106846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.106846

LinkOut - more resources