Department of Paediatrics, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria.
Ghana Med J. 2022 Mar;56(1):23-27. doi: 10.4314/gmj.v56i1.4.
To describe how seizure severity in children with epilepsy may be affected by certain socio-demographic and clinical variables.
A cross-sectional study.
At the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Nigeria.
Sixty children and adolescents who were being followed up for seizure disorder at the child neurology clinic.
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.
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.
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.].
This study shows that neurological co-morbidities predict worsening seizure severity. This knowledge may influence prognostication and the charting of a treatment trajectory.
No external funding.
描述儿童癫痫患者的癫痫严重程度可能受到某些社会人口学和临床变量的影响。
横断面研究。
尼日利亚包奇州阿卜杜勒·塔法瓦·巴莱瓦大学教学医院。
在儿童神经科诊所接受癫痫疾病随访的 60 名儿童和青少年。
使用问卷获取社会人口学特征信息，从参与者的记录中提取神经共病的详细信息，使用国家医院癫痫严重程度评分 3 工具评估癫痫严重程度。
卡方检验用于确定分类变量之间的关系，独立 t 检验用于描述均值之间的差异。简单线性回归用于评估癫痫严重程度的可预测性。
中位年龄为 10 岁（IQR=6-13 岁），男性居多（1.5:1）。癫痫严重程度评分（SSS）范围为 3 至 24 个单位，平均为 12.22±4.29 个单位。在单变量分析中，唯一与 SSS 有显著关联的特征是“共病存在”（p=0.019）。简单线性回归显示，存在神经共病会使 SSS 增加 2.67 个单位。[R2=0.091，F（1,58）=5.837，p=0.019。β=2.67，t=2.42，p=0.019]。
本研究表明，神经共病预测癫痫严重程度恶化。这一知识可能影响预后和治疗轨迹的制定。
无外部资金。
