TY - JOUR
T1 - Incidence of epilepsy in a racially diverse, community-dwelling, elderly cohort
T2 - Results from the Einstein aging study
AU - Hussain, S. A.
AU - Haut, S. R.
AU - Lipton, R. B.
AU - Derby, C.
AU - Markowitz, S. Y.
AU - Shinnar, S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by PO1 AG03949 (RBL) and an unrestricted grant from GlaxoSmithKline (SS).
PY - 2006/10
Y1 - 2006/10
N2 - Objective: To determine age-specific incidence and cumulative incidence of epilepsy in a well-defined cohort of elderly people, and to examine how rates of epilepsy are modified by sex, race, stroke, dementia, head injury, and depression. Methods: The authors examined data from a reconstructed cohort based on 1919 community-dwelling volunteers, followed as part of a large ongoing prospective aging study. Results: Age-specific incidence was 10.6 (per 100,000 person-years) between ages 45 and 59, 25.8 between ages 60 and 74, and 101.1 between ages 75 and 89. Cumulative incidence was 0.15% from age 45 to age 60, 0.38% to age 70, 1.01% to age 80, and 1.47% to age 90. In addition, the difference in cumulative incidence among African-American subjects approached statistical significance (57.6/100,000 person-years versus 26.1 in Caucasian, p = 0.10), and the difference in incidence among subjects reporting a history of stroke was significantly elevated (p = 0.029). Incidence of epilepsy was not statistically elevated among males, those with dementia, or individuals reporting a history of head injury or treatment for depression. Among "healthy" subjects without history of stroke, head injury, or dementia, we observed a cumulative risk of epilepsy with onset after age 60 of only 1.1%. Conclusions: The incidence of epilepsy was low in this relatively healthy cohort of elderly people, especially among subjects without known risk factors. In this study we identified African-American race as a risk factor in the elderly for epilepsy independent of stroke.
AB - Objective: To determine age-specific incidence and cumulative incidence of epilepsy in a well-defined cohort of elderly people, and to examine how rates of epilepsy are modified by sex, race, stroke, dementia, head injury, and depression. Methods: The authors examined data from a reconstructed cohort based on 1919 community-dwelling volunteers, followed as part of a large ongoing prospective aging study. Results: Age-specific incidence was 10.6 (per 100,000 person-years) between ages 45 and 59, 25.8 between ages 60 and 74, and 101.1 between ages 75 and 89. Cumulative incidence was 0.15% from age 45 to age 60, 0.38% to age 70, 1.01% to age 80, and 1.47% to age 90. In addition, the difference in cumulative incidence among African-American subjects approached statistical significance (57.6/100,000 person-years versus 26.1 in Caucasian, p = 0.10), and the difference in incidence among subjects reporting a history of stroke was significantly elevated (p = 0.029). Incidence of epilepsy was not statistically elevated among males, those with dementia, or individuals reporting a history of head injury or treatment for depression. Among "healthy" subjects without history of stroke, head injury, or dementia, we observed a cumulative risk of epilepsy with onset after age 60 of only 1.1%. Conclusions: The incidence of epilepsy was low in this relatively healthy cohort of elderly people, especially among subjects without known risk factors. In this study we identified African-American race as a risk factor in the elderly for epilepsy independent of stroke.
KW - African-American
KW - Cumulative risk
KW - Elderly
KW - Epilepsy
KW - Incidence
KW - Race
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33748776284&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33748776284&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2006.06.018
DO - 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2006.06.018
M3 - Article
C2 - 16870396
AN - SCOPUS:33748776284
SN - 0920-1211
VL - 71
SP - 195
EP - 205
JO - Epilepsy Research
JF - Epilepsy Research
IS - 2-3
ER -