Abstract
BACKGROUND: Epilepsy carries a lifetime risk of seizure-related accidents. The risk varies according to the socioeconomic profile of a place. Sufficient data is lacking for epilepsy-related accidents in the pediatric population.
OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify the proportion of pediatric epileptic patients who met with accidents and their associated factors.
METHODS: A prospective study was done. Patients of less than 18 years with epilepsy of more than 1-year duration were included and were given a questionnaire modified for the pediatric population. The demography of accidents during seizures and drugs taken were recorded.
RESULTS: 135 epileptic children were included. 70.4% of patients suffered seizure-related accidents ranging from 1-10 accidents in their epilepsy duration. Falls (83.15%) were the most common, 25.26% of them required hospitalization. Accidents due to missing of drug dosage were observed in 23% patients.
CONCLUSION: Seizure-related accidents are common in the pediatric population, and may lead to major accidents. Better epilepsy management with extra care for high-risk epilepsy patients may decrease their incidents.