Snow R W, Williams R E, Rogers J E, Mung'ala V O, Peshu N
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi.
Trop Geogr Med. 1994;46(3):175-9.
During a two year community-based investigation of mortality 3.5% of the deaths to individuals over the age of 5 years were reported by bereaved relatives to have occurred to epileptics and 77% of these deaths were thought to have occurred whilst the patient was in status epilepticus. This prompted us to determine the prevalence of epilepsy in this rural population by interviewing 7,450 residents of a pre-defined study area. The prevalence of 'Kifafa' or 'Vitsala', two local words used to describe epilepsy, but later confirmed through detailed interviews, was 0.4%. This prevalence is clearly an underestimate of the true prevalence of epilepsy in this population but is probably higher than prevalences reported in developed countries. Anti-convulsant prophylaxis is available at the district hospital but this service is only sporadically used by epileptics in this population. Uncontrolled and poorly managed epilepsy may result in an increased risk of premature mortality among epileptics living in this community.
在一项为期两年的基于社区的死亡率调查中，5岁以上人群中有3.5%的死亡据丧亲亲属报告是癫痫患者，其中77%的死亡被认为发生在患者癫痫持续状态期间。这促使我们通过采访预先定义研究区域的7450名居民来确定该农村人口中癫痫的患病率。“Kifafa”或“Vitsala”（当地用于描述癫痫的两个词，后来通过详细访谈得到证实）的患病率为0.4%。这一患病率显然低估了该人群中癫痫的真实患病率，但可能高于发达国家报告的患病率。地区医院有抗惊厥预防药物，但该人群中的癫痫患者只是偶尔使用这项服务。癫痫不受控制且管理不善可能会增加该社区癫痫患者过早死亡的风险。
