Etiologies of epilepsy and health-seeking itinerary of patients with epilepsy in a resource poor setting: analysis of 342 Nigerian Africans.
PURPOSE
The understanding of causation of epilepsy, especially in resource poor African countries where prevalence rates are very high, would aid strategies for primary prevention. This study sought to determine the causes of epilepsy in Nigerian Africans and health-itinerary of patients with epilepsy.


METHOD
This was an observational, cross-sectional descriptive study of consecutive newly diagnosed adult patients with epilepsy using a mixed-methods approach of face-to-face in-depth interview of patients' parents and relations, health care personnel who had given medical attention at any time and telephone interview. A structured interview schedule was used to obtain demographic information, details of seizure variables, health seeking itinerary and history of previous hospitalizations. Data was analyzed descriptively with SPSS version 17.


RESULTS
Three hundred and forty-two patients with epilepsy with a mean age of 31.4±11.98 years participated in the study. Most of the patients (68.1%; 233/342) were unemployed and students. There were 270 (78.9%) patients with generalized epilepsy. No identifiable etiology was found in 37.7%, but of the remaining 62.3%, the commonest causes included post traumatic (19.6%), recurrent childhood febrile convulsions (13.2%), post-stroke (6.7%), brain tumors (5.9%), neonatal jaundice (5.3%), birth-related asphyxia (5%) and history of previous CNS infections (4.7%). Family history of epilepsy was obtained in 9.9%, all of whom had primarily generalized seizures. 61.4% of them sought initial attention from the traditional healers or in prayer houses.


CONCLUSION
This study showed the pattern of causes of epilepsy in Nigerian Africans. The health seeking behavior and itinerary of the PWE revealed a preference for traditional healers. There is need for health policies and epilepsy awareness campaigns to prevent causes of seizures and improve the knowledge of the public respectively.
['Ogunrin|Olubunmi A|OA|', 'Adeyekun|Ademola|A|', 'Adudu|Philomena|P|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000367:Age Factors D000368:Aged D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D004651:Employment D004827:Epilepsy D005260:Female D006291:Health Policy D006295:Health Resources D006801:Humans D008297:Male D017533:Marital Status D008875:Middle Aged D009549:Nigeria D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care D011634:Public Health D012640:Seizures D012737:Sex Factors D055815:Young Adult
Etiology Epilepsy Itinerary Nigeria