Abstract:
Back ground: Epilepsy is one of the common chronic neurologic disorders characterized by
recurrent seizure that is a brief period of uncontrolled involuntary movement. In 2008, globally
there were 50 million patients with epilepsy from which 80% are in developing world. In Ethiopia,
the reported prevalence of epilepsy was 5.2 per 1000 people in the country. It has been reported
that the annual incidence of epilepsy was 64 in 100,000 inhabitants at risk, 72 for males, and 57 for
females in Ethiopia. Patients with epilepsy may continue to experience any types of seizure while
getting antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) treatment.
Objective: To assess the magnitude of seizure attack and associated factors among patients with
epilepsy on follow up at JUMC OPD.
Method: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 401 epileptic patients on
follow up were enrolled through systematic sampling method. Data were collected by trained
nurses using semi-structured interviewers administered questioners and reviewing secondary data.
Before entering in to a computer, the data were cleaned and coded using Epidata 3.1 and analyzed
using SPSS version 23. A descriptive statistics was used to present the data. Odds ratio were
computed to assess the presence and degree of association between dependent and independent
variables. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to see independent effect of each variable on
the outcome
Result: Total of 401 respondents were interviewed. Overall, 42.6% (n=171) of respondents were
experienced seizure attacks. Patients with longer duration of epilepsy were less likely to have
seizure episode compared to those patients with shorter duration of epilepsy (more than 10 years vs
less than one year) [AOR=0.21, 95%CI: 0.049-0.770, p=0.032] .The odds of seizure episode was
3.5 times higher among patients with multiple therapy as compared to patients with monotherapy
modality [AOR=3.5, 95%CI: 1.31-9.40, p=0.012].
Conclusion and Recommendation: More than one-third of respondents experienced seizure
attacks while in the course of AED treatment and follow up. Duration of treatment and the number
of drug used were factors independently associated with seizure attacks. Strengthen treatment
modality is crucial. Further, longitudinal prospective studies are also needed to fully understand
the nature of these factors in seizure attacks.
