Bifftu Berhanu Boru, Tadesse Tiruneh Bewket, Mekonnen Kelkay Mengistu, Bayu Nestanet Habte, Tewolde Abebe Woldesellassie, Takele Wubet Worku, Getnet Mehammed Adem, Azagew Abere Woretaw
Department of Nursing, University of Gondar College of Medicine and Health Science, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Neurol Res Int. 2017;2017:4970691. doi: 10.1155/2017/4970691. Epub 2017 Dec 11.
The characteristics of epilepsy such as the episodic nature of impairment of consciousness and motor control, psychomotor comorbidity, seizure frequency, and side effects of antiepileptic drugs impact negatively on the physical safety of the patients. Physical injuries such as burn, fracture, dental loss, and hemorrhage affect the quality of patients' life to the extent of death. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of physical injury and associated factors among people with epilepsy.
The study was carried out among 409 people with epilepsy. Cross-sectional study design was utilized to enroll the selected study participants using systematic random sampling technique. Binary and multivariable logistic regression were fitted to identify associated factors using an odds ratio and 95% CI.
The overall estimated prevalence of seizure-related physical injury was found to be 27.9%. Of the 27.9% seizure-related physical injuries, 12.5% had abrasions, 5.9% had burns, 4.4% had dental injuries, 2.2% had fractures, and 1.5% had head injuries and dislocations, respectively. Employment, 2-3 years duration of illness, seizure frequencies, and frequencies of drug taken were factors associated with physical injury.
More than a quarter of the study participants experienced physical injury. Designing/strengthening injury prevention strategies is suggested especially for those who had uncontrolled seizure frequency for longer period of time.
癫痫的特征，如意识和运动控制障碍的发作性、精神运动性合并症、癫痫发作频率以及抗癫痫药物的副作用，对患者的身体安全产生负面影响。烧伤、骨折、牙齿脱落和出血等身体损伤会在一定程度上影响患者的生活质量，甚至导致死亡。因此，本研究的主要目的是评估癫痫患者身体损伤的患病率及相关因素。
对409例癫痫患者进行了研究。采用系统随机抽样技术，运用横断面研究设计纳入选定的研究参与者。采用二元和多变量逻辑回归分析，以比值比和95%置信区间确定相关因素。
癫痫相关身体损伤的总体估计患病率为27.9%。在27.9%的癫痫相关身体损伤中，擦伤占12.5%，烧伤占5.9%，牙齿损伤占4.4%，骨折占2.2%，头部损伤和脱位分别占1.5%。就业情况、患病2至3年、癫痫发作频率和服药频率是与身体损伤相关的因素。
超过四分之一的研究参与者经历过身体损伤。建议制定/加强损伤预防策略，尤其是针对癫痫发作频率长期未得到控制的患者。
