SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL PROFILE OF CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY.

Purpose:- The present study aimed at understanding the socio-demographic and clinical profile of children with epilepsy seeking treatment at a tertiary referral centre for Neurology in South India. Materials and Methods:- Sixty children in the age-group of 4-15yrswereinterviewedto explore the socio-demographic and clinical profile. The children and their parents were recruited consecutively over a period of six months in 2015. Clinical history was taken from medical records and tools administered were Socio-Demographic Information Schedule and Seizure Severity (SS) scale and a Side-effects (SE) scale- Parent Form[4]. Results:- Most of the children (66.7%) affected with epilepsy were males. Majority of the children (78.8%) had no history of seizures in the family. Maximum number of children (51.7%) had normal birth weight i.e. 2.5 kg and had no congenital anomalies. A significant number of children (58.3%) had generalized tonic clonic seizures. Many children (30.0%) with epilepsy had academic difficulties. Conclusion:- Children who had unprovoked seizures needs long term follow up studies for better understanding of specific features of epilepsy syndromes as well as for designing better psycho-social treatment plan.