Door-to-door prevalence survey of epilepsy in three Sicilian municipalities

A door-to-door prevalence survey of epilepsy was conducted in 3 Sicilian mu nicipalities, as of November 1, 1987. In phase 1, the screening by question naire of 24,496 eligible subjects (participation = 92%) identified 544 susp ected to have epilepsy. In phase 2, neurological evaluation of the 544 subj ects yielded 111 with epilepsy. Of the 111 subjects, 103 (93%) had been pre viously diagnosed, 68 (61%) were taking antiepileptic medication, and 81 (7 3%) had active epilepsy. Referring to the 81 subjects with active epilepsy, the seizure type was generalized in 60 (74%), partial in 19 (23%) and unde termined in 2 (3%). The prevalence of active epilepsy (per 1,000 population ) was 3.3 overall, 3.5 for men and 3.2 for women. The age-specific patterns for active epilepsy differed by sex, with higher figures for men at younge r ages (5-19 years) and older ages (50-99 years). The age-specific prevalen ce figures for active epilepsy were lower than those from previous Italian surveys. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.