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 yeqars. One in 10 children had a history of febrile convulsions.