Prevalence of Seizure Disorder in School Children in Kashmir

Seizure disorder is highly prevalent disorder particularly in developing countries. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of seizure disorder of school going children (6-16) years of age in all the six districts of Kashmir. Methods: The selection of schools was done by PPS (proportionate to population size) used in cluster survey. Questioner Performa was given to 60 randomly selected children from each selected school, 30 boys and 30 girls were screened to find out the prevalence of seizure disorder. To give adequate representation to all individuals of various strata both Govt and Private run schools from rural as well as urban areas were selected. Results: A total of 19 positive cases of epilepsy were detected during the survey period, After screening of 5760 children (rural and urban) the crude prevalence of epilepsy was found to be 3.3/ 1000 which is comparable to the other studies in the world. The Male prevalence in school going children was 3.8/1000 while female prevalence of epilepsy was 2.77/1000. Commonest type of seizure was generalized tonic clonic (GTC) 78.9%. Conclusion: The prevalence of seizure disorder in children of lower socio economic class was 3.5/1000.

Impact of Socio Economic Status and Cultural Factors on the Prevalence of Epilepsy: Study in Kashmir

Introduction: The social and economic problems cuased byepilepsy are offen under appricaiated. The message shouldreach the broadest population of effected individuals, many ofwhom are in low socio economic groups and are at higher riskfor development of epilepsy. Study aimed to asess the impactof socio economic status and cultural factors on the prevalenceof Epilepsy in school going Children (6-16 years) in Kashmir.Material and methods: This was a population based studyconducted in school children. The selection of school wasdone by using PPS Method (Proportionate to PopulationSize) used in cluster surveys. The Pretexed Questionnairewas administered to 60 randomly selected children from eachselected school, the positive responders were examined by theneurologist and psychologistResults: The crude Prevelance of epilepsy in school goingchildren was 3.8/1000 for males which was higher thanfemales 2.77. The Govt schools had higher prevalence3.81/1000 as compared to private schools 2.79/1000 reflectinghigher prevalence in economically weaker section. Childrenfrom lower middle class had highest prevalence 3.56/1000.Conclusion: The prevelance of Epilepsy seems to increasewith socio economic deprivation though the association maybe compounded by other factors. The over all prevelance wascomparable to other studies. However there is significantimprovement about the awareness of epilepsy in Kashmirvalley over the past decades.