Dreier Julie Werenberg, Trabjerg Betina B, Lolk Kasper, Plana-Ripoll Oleguer, Christensen Jakob
National Centre for Register-Based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Centre for Integrated Register-Based Research (CIRRAU), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2025 Jul 16;96(8):784-793. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2024-335220.
We quantify the loss of working years for people with epilepsy compared with the general population and consider variation by aetiology, psychiatric comorbidity, sex and age.
This population-based cohort study included all individuals aged 18-65 years living in Denmark from 1995 to 2018. Using nationwide registers since 1977, we identified people with epilepsy and obtained information on the main source of income or employment for each year during follow-up from 1995 to 2020. The main outcome was number of working years lost in people with epilepsy compared with the general population of same sex and age, capturing both working life lost due to permanent (death, disability pension, early retirement) and temporary (unemployment, sick leave) factors.
The study comprised 5 466 140 individuals, including 74 980 (1.4%) with epilepsy. In people with epilepsy, the number of working years was on average reduced by 6.6 (95% CI: 6.5 to 6.7) years compared with the general population, largely due to disability pension (4.8 years, 95% CI: 4.7 to 4.9) and premature death (1.6 years, 95% CI: 1.6 to 1.7). Loss of working life was more pronounced in those with a presumed underlying aetiology (9.0 years (95% CI: 8.9 to 9.2) vs 5.4 years (95% CI: 5.2 to 5.5) in those with unknown aetiology), those with psychiatric comorbidity (14.5 years (95% CI: 14.2 to 14.7) vs 5.6 years (95% CI: 5.5 to 5.7) in those without), men (7.2 years (95% CI: 7.1 to 7.3) vs 5.9 (95% CI: 5.8 to 6.0) years in women) and people with early onset of epilepsy (eg, 11.5 years (95% CI: 11.3 to 11.7) among those with onset <20 years).
Epilepsy was associated with significant loss of working life resulting from both disability and premature death.
我们对癫痫患者与普通人群相比所损失的工作年限进行了量化，并考虑了病因、精神疾病合并症、性别和年龄的差异。
这项基于人群的队列研究纳入了1995年至2018年居住在丹麦的所有18至65岁的个体。利用自1977年以来的全国登记册，我们确定了癫痫患者，并获得了1995年至2020年随访期间每年的主要收入或就业来源信息。主要结局是癫痫患者与同性和同龄普通人群相比所损失的工作年限，包括因永久性（死亡、残疾抚恤金、提前退休）和临时性（失业、病假）因素而损失的工作年限。
该研究包括5466140名个体，其中74980名（1.4%）患有癫痫。与普通人群相比，癫痫患者的工作年限平均减少了6.6年（95%置信区间：6.5至6.7年），主要原因是残疾抚恤金（4.8年，95%置信区间：4.7至4.9年）和过早死亡（1.6年，95%置信区间：1.6至1.7年）。在病因推测明确的患者中，工作年限的损失更为明显（9.0年（95%置信区间：8.9至9.2年），而病因不明者为5.4年（95%置信区间：5.2至5.5年）），有精神疾病合并症的患者（14.5年（95%置信区间：14.2至14.7年），无精神疾病合并症者为5.6年（95%置信区间：5.5至5.7年）），男性（7.2年（95%置信区间：7.1至7.3年），女性为5.9年（95%置信区间：5.8至6.0年））以及癫痫发病早的患者（例如，发病年龄<20岁者为11.5年（95%置信区间：11.3至11.7年））。
癫痫与因残疾和过早死亡导致的显著工作年限损失相关。
