Mortality by clinical characteristics in a tertiary care cohort of adult patients with chronic epilepsy

The authors evaluated the contribution of various clinical characteristics to mortality risk and underlying causes of death among all adult patients with epilepsy seen at the Department of Neurology, Oulu University Hospital in Finland during 1996 and 1997. Hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality in 1998-2006 relative to a population-based reference cohort were estimated using Cox modeling, with adjustment for age and gender. The HR for total mortality was 2.66 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.09-3.39). Infectious etiology of epilepsy (HR 5.77, 95% CI 2.52-13.2) and a seizure frequency of ≥1 per month (HR 4.42, 95% CI 3.00-6.52) related to high risks of death. Cancer (21%), ischemic heart disease (15%), and accidents (12%) caused most of the potential years of life lost. Despite recent advances in treatment of epilepsy and improved seizure control, chronic epilepsy still carries a substantially increased risk of death.