A community-based prospective incidence study of epileptic seizures in children.

During a 20-month period, an attempt was made to find all children with unprovoked non-febrile seizures. The first attendance and incidence rates were 95 and 89/100,000, respectively, in the age group 0-15 years. These figures are lower than those found 10 years earlier in the same area. The highest incidence was during the first year of life and there was a higher proportion of girls (male:female ratio 1:1.4). Generalized seizures dominated in the first year of life. The incidence of benign childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes was 10.7/100,000 and was the most common epilepsy syndrome found. The incidence of partial seizures increased with age up to the age of 10 years. One in 10 children had a history of febrile convulsions.