{"title":"Factors associated with seizure severity among children with epilepsy in Northern Nigeria.","authors":"Idris A Adedeji, Adamu S Adamu, Faruk M Bashir","doi":"10.4314/gmj.v56i1.4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To describe how seizure severity in children with epilepsy may be affected by certain socio-demographic and clinical variables.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A cross-sectional study.</p><p><strong>Setting: </strong>At the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Nigeria.</p><p><strong>Participants: </strong>Sixty children and adolescents who were being followed up for seizure disorder at the child neurology clinic.</p><p><strong>Intervention: </strong>Information on socio-demographic characteristics was obtained with a questionnaire, details of neurological co-morbidities were extracted from the participants' records, and seizure severity was assessed with the National Hospital Seizure Severity Score 3 tool.</p><p><strong>Main outcome measure: </strong>Chi-square test was used to establish the relationship between categorical variables, while the Independent t-test was used in describing the differences between means. Simple linear regression was calculated to assess the predictability of seizure severity.</p><p><strong>Result: </strong>The median age was ten years (IQR = 6-13 years), with a male dominance (1.5:1). The Seizure Severity Score (SSS) ranged between 3 and 24 units, with a mean of 12.22 ± 4.29 units. The only characteristic that had a significant association with SSS on bivariate analysis was the \"presence of co-morbidities\" (p=0.019). A simple linear regression revealed that the presence of a neurological co-morbidity predicted an increase in the SSS by 2.67 units. [R2 = 0.091, F (1, 58)= 5.837, p = 0.019. β = 2.67, t= 2.42, p= 0.019.].</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study shows that neurological co-morbidities predict worsening seizure severity. This knowledge may influence prognostication and the charting of a treatment trajectory.</p><p><strong>Funding: </strong>No external funding.</p>","PeriodicalId":35509,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Medical Journal","volume":"56 1","pages":"23-27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9334951/pdf/","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ghana Medical Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gmj.v56i1.4","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Objective: To describe how seizure severity in children with epilepsy may be affected by certain socio-demographic and clinical variables.
Design: A cross-sectional study.
Setting: At the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Nigeria.
Participants: Sixty children and adolescents who were being followed up for seizure disorder at the child neurology clinic.
Intervention: Information on socio-demographic characteristics was obtained with a questionnaire, details of neurological co-morbidities were extracted from the participants' records, and seizure severity was assessed with the National Hospital Seizure Severity Score 3 tool.
Main outcome measure: Chi-square test was used to establish the relationship between categorical variables, while the Independent t-test was used in describing the differences between means. Simple linear regression was calculated to assess the predictability of seizure severity.
Result: The median age was ten years (IQR = 6-13 years), with a male dominance (1.5:1). The Seizure Severity Score (SSS) ranged between 3 and 24 units, with a mean of 12.22 ± 4.29 units. The only characteristic that had a significant association with SSS on bivariate analysis was the "presence of co-morbidities" (p=0.019). A simple linear regression revealed that the presence of a neurological co-morbidity predicted an increase in the SSS by 2.67 units. [R2 = 0.091, F (1, 58)= 5.837, p = 0.019. β = 2.67, t= 2.42, p= 0.019.].
Conclusion: This study shows that neurological co-morbidities predict worsening seizure severity. This knowledge may influence prognostication and the charting of a treatment trajectory.