Centre for Population Health Sciences and Global Health Academy, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
J Glob Health. 2012 Dec;2(2):020405. doi: 10.7189/jogh.02.020405.
Epilepsy is a leading serious neurological condition worldwide and has particularly significant physical, economic and social consequences in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of epilepsy prevalence in this region and how this varies by age and sex so as to inform understanding of the disease characteristics as well as the development of infrastructure, services and policies.
A parallel systematic analysis of Medline, Embase and Global Health returned 32 studies that satisfied pre-defined quality criteria. Relevant data was extracted, tabulated and analyzed. We modelled the available information and used the UN population figures for Africa to determine the age-specific and overall burden of epilepsy.
Active epilepsy was estimated to affect 4.4 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, whilst lifetime epilepsy was estimated to affect 5.4 million. The prevalence of active epilepsy peaks in the 20-29 age group at 11.5/1000 and again in the 40-49 age group at 8.2/1000. The lowest prevalence value of 3.1/1000 is seen in the 60+ age group. This binomial pattern is also seen in both men and women, with the second peak more pronounced in women at 14.6/1000.
The high prevalence of epilepsy, especially in young adults, has important consequences for both the workforce and community structures. An estimation of disease burden would be a beneficial outcome of further research, as would research into appropriate methods of improving health care for and tackling discrimination against people with epilepsy.
癫痫是全球范围内一种主要的严重神经系统疾病，在撒哈拉以南非洲地区尤其具有显著的身体、经济和社会后果。本文旨在增进对该地区癫痫患病率的了解，以及其如何因年龄和性别而异，从而深入了解疾病特征以及基础设施、服务和政策的制定。
对 Medline、Embase 和 Global Health 进行平行系统分析，共检索到 32 项符合预定义质量标准的研究。提取、列表和分析相关数据。我们对现有信息进行建模，并使用联合国非洲人口数据来确定特定年龄和总体癫痫负担。
活跃性癫痫估计影响了撒哈拉以南非洲的 440 万人，而终身癫痫估计影响了 540 万人。活跃性癫痫的患病率在 20-29 岁年龄组达到峰值，为 11.5/1000，在 40-49 岁年龄组再次达到峰值，为 8.2/1000。在 60 岁及以上年龄组，患病率最低，为 3.1/1000。这种二项式模式在男性和女性中均可见，女性的第二个峰值更为明显，为 14.6/1000。
癫痫的高患病率，尤其是在年轻成年人中，对劳动力和社区结构都有重要影响。进一步研究估计疾病负担将是有益的结果，同时研究改善癫痫患者医疗保健和解决针对他们的歧视问题的适当方法也将是有益的。
