ABSTRACT

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases and involves about 69 million patients worldwide. Especially in young adults, the social and private burden of epilepsy is high. The young adult population of Eastern Turkey has not been investigated with respect to the prevalence and risk factors of epilepsy. For these reasons we aimed to investigate the prevalence and some risk factors of active epilepsy in Kafkas University students as representatives the young adults of Eastern Turkey with normal intelligence.

The sample size for our study of consisted of a minimum of 1135 students. A total of 2000 questionnaires were distributed among the students and 1829 were accepted for statistical analysis. 43 students were identified as possibly having epilepsy and invited for further investigation. As a result, 7 participants were determined to have active epilepsy.

The point prevalence of active defined epilepsy on December 30, 2010 was estimated to be 3.8/1000 for both sexes. The statistical analysis identified a history of febrile seizures and head trauma to be significant as risk factors for the development of epilepsy, while gender, family history of epilepsy, financial status, history of prematurity, cesarean or vaginal birth and parental consanguinity were not significant risk factors for epilepsy.

We can conclude that the prevalence of epilepsy in young adults in the eastern region of Turkey is comparable to those in developed countries.

Keywords: Epilepsy, prevalence, risk factors, young adult