Predisposing Factors of Seizure in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department; a Brief Report

• Main Authors: Farhad Rahmati, Shideh Alavi, Saeed Safari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2020-01-01
• Series: Advanced Journal of Emergency Medicine
• Subjects: Causality; Emergency Service, Hospital; Prevention and Control; Risk Factors; Seizures
• Online Access: http://ajem.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ajem/article/view/334

Introduction: Identifying predisposing factors of seizure can be somewhat helpful in preventing it from occurring. Objective: The present study has been designed aiming to assess the frequency of predisposing factors of seizure in patients visiting the emergency department (ED). Methods: The present prospective cross-sectional study was performed on adult patients presenting to ED following seizure during 1 year. Known or probable predisposing risk factors for seizure were extracted from various studies and were asked from patients or their relatives during history taking and clinical examination. Results: Finally, 246 seizure patients with the mean age of 38.8 ± 18.3 (18 – 92) years were included (68.7% male). Most patients were in the 18–29 years age group (41.1%), had an educational level less than high school diploma (59.8%), and were unemployed (47.8%). Among the predisposing factors of seizure, emotional stress with 107 (43.7%) cases, insomnia with 44 (17.9%), and irregular use of antiepileptic medications with 36 (14.6%) cases were the most common predisposing factors, respectively. In 43.5% of the patients, no identified predisposing factor was found. Insomnia (p = 0.002), stress (p < 0.001), and substance abuse (p < 0.001) were the most important predisposing factors of seizure in individuals less than 60 years old. In addition, being in the menstruation period was also shown to be a predisposing risk factor for women aged less than 60 years (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Emotional stress, insomnia, and irregular use of antiepileptic medication were the most important predisposing factors of seizure in the studied patients. In more than 40% of patients presenting to ED following seizure, no predisposing factor was found.