global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...the epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the...

13
Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147 260 Introduction Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, and 80% of them live in the developing world. 1 An individual with epilepsy suffers recurrent seizures unprovoked by acute brain insults or metabolic derangements. Seizures are characterized by a brief period of uncontrolled involuntary shaking. ey may be partial, involving only one part of the body, or generalized, involving the entire body, and they may be accompanied by loss of consciousness and of control of bowel or bladder function. Some individuals continue to have frequent seizures despite optimal treatment with anti-epileptic drugs. However, more than 70% of patients who are treated achieve long-term remission or freedom from seizures, usually within 5 years of diagnosis. 2 Cost-effective epilepsy treatments are available and an ac- curate diagnosis can be made without technological equipment. Nonetheless, a vast majority of individuals with epilepsy in many resource-poor regions do not receive treatment. 35 Untreated epilepsy is a critical public health issue, as people with untreated epilepsy face potentially devastating social consequences and poor health outcomes. Due to stigma, many persons with epi- lepsy have lower employment and education levels and lower socioeconomic status. For example, children with epilepsy who have a seizure at school may be dismissed, while adults may be barred from marriage or employment. 2,6 In addition, persons with epilepsy have poor health outcomes, including greater psychological distress, more physical injuries such as fractures and burns, and increased mortality. 712 e epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has been proposed as a useful parameter to compare access to and quality of care for epilepsy patients across populations. 13,14 Prior anecdotal and descriptive estimates suggest a treatment gap of more than 80% in many low-income countries, 13,15 yet one recent systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that the treatment gap in developing countries is as low as 56%. 16 is intriguing discrepancy may be due to the methodological limitations of the prior systematic review, which had an excessively narrow search strategy, included only English-language articles, and used meta-analytic techniques to generate a population estimate of the treatment gap. First, the search strategy focused on “treat- ment gap” and “treatment status”. Many epilepsy prevalence studies report treatment data, but as the term “treatment gap” only recently came into usage in the research literature, 13 many studies with treatment gap data may have been missed using this search strategy. Second, many studies, particularly from low- income countries, are published in local rather than international journals. By not including languages other than English, many studies with treatment gap data may have been missed. Finally, the use of meta-analytic techniques to generate a unitary esti- mate of the treatment gap may have biased the estimates for two reasons: first, there was considerable unexplained heterogeneity among treatment gap estimates, and second, included studies were conducted in populations that were not representative of developing countries as a whole. In this systematic review and analysis of the variation in the epilepsy treatment gap, we have greatly expanded the scope of the systematic review by searching for population-based epilepsy prevalence studies in all languages. We have also described the Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l’article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español. قالة.ذه ا لهكاملية النص ال نها صةذه الخ جمة العربية له الObjective To describe the magnitude and variation of the epilepsy treatment gap worldwide. Methods We conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature published from 1 January 1987 to 1 September 2007 in all languages using PubMed and EMBASE. The purpose was to identify population-based studies of epilepsy prevalence that reported the epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require but do not receive treatment. Negative binomial regression models were used to assess trends and associations. Findings The treatment gap was over 75% in low-income countries and over 50% in most lower middle- and upper middle-income countries, while many high-income countries had gaps of less than 10%. However, treatment gaps varied widely both between and within countries. They were significantly higher in rural areas (rate ratio, RR: 2.01; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.40–2.89) and countries with lower World Bank income classification (RR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.32–1.82). There was no significant trend in treatment gap over time (RR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.79–1.07). Conclusion There is dramatic global disparity in the care for epilepsy between high- and low- income countries, and between rural and urban settings. Our understanding of the factors affecting the treatment gap is limited; future investigations should explore other potential explanations of the gap. Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a systematic review Ana-Claire Meyer, a Tarun Dua, b Juliana Ma, c Shekhar Saxena b & Gretchen Birbeck d a San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, 1001 Potrero Avenue (4M62), Box 0870, San Francisco, CA, 94110, United States of America (USA). b World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. c Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. d Chikankata Health Services Epilepsy Care Team, Mazabuka, Zambia. Correspondence to Ana-Claire Meyer (e-mail: [email protected]). (Submitted: 19 March 2009 – Revised version received: 19 August 2009 – Accepted: 20 August 2009 – Published online: 25 September 2009 )

Upload: others

Post on 16-Feb-2020

3 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147260

Introduction

Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, and 80% of them live in the developing world.1 An individual with epilepsy suffers recurrent seizures unprovoked by acute brain insults or metabolic derangements. Seizures are characterized by a brief period of uncontrolled involuntary shaking. They may be partial, involving only one part of the body, or generalized, involving the entire body, and they may be accompanied by loss of consciousness and of control of bowel or bladder function. Some individuals continue to have frequent seizures despite optimal treatment with anti-epileptic drugs. However, more than 70% of patients who are treated achieve long-term remission or freedom from seizures, usually within 5 years of diagnosis.2

Cost-effective epilepsy treatments are available and an ac-curate diagnosis can be made without technological equipment. Nonetheless, a vast majority of individuals with epilepsy in many resource-poor regions do not receive treatment.3–5 Untreated epilepsy is a critical public health issue, as people with untreated epilepsy face potentially devastating social consequences and poor health outcomes. Due to stigma, many persons with epi-lepsy have lower employment and education levels and lower socioeconomic status. For example, children with epilepsy who have a seizure at school may be dismissed, while adults may be barred from marriage or employment.2,6 In addition, persons with epilepsy have poor health outcomes, including greater psychological distress, more physical injuries such as fractures and burns, and increased mortality.7–12

The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it,

has been proposed as a useful parameter to compare access to and quality of care for epilepsy patients across populations.13,14 Prior anecdotal and descriptive estimates suggest a treatment gap of more than 80% in many low-income countries,13,15 yet one recent systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that the treatment gap in developing countries is as low as 56%.16This intriguing discrepancy may be due to the methodological limitations of the prior systematic review, which had an excessively narrow search strategy, included only English-language articles, and used meta-analytic techniques to generate a population estimate of the treatment gap. First, the search strategy focused on “treat-ment gap” and “treatment status”. Many epilepsy prevalence studies report treatment data, but as the term “treatment gap” only recently came into usage in the research literature,13 many studies with treatment gap data may have been missed using this search strategy. Second, many studies, particularly from low-income countries, are published in local rather than international journals. By not including languages other than English, many studies with treatment gap data may have been missed. Finally, the use of meta-analytic techniques to generate a unitary esti-mate of the treatment gap may have biased the estimates for two reasons: first, there was considerable unexplained heterogeneity among treatment gap estimates, and second, included studies were conducted in populations that were not representative of developing countries as a whole.

In this systematic review and analysis of the variation in the epilepsy treatment gap, we have greatly expanded the scope of the systematic review by searching for population-based epilepsy prevalence studies in all languages. We have also described the

Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l’article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español. الرتجمة العربية لهذه الخالصة يف نهاية النص الكامل لهذه املقالة.

Objective To describe the magnitude and variation of the epilepsy treatment gap worldwide.Methods We conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature published from 1 January 1987 to 1 September 2007 in all languages using PubMed and EMBASE. The purpose was to identify population-based studies of epilepsy prevalence that reported the epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require but do not receive treatment. Negative binomial regression models were used to assess trends and associations.Findings The treatment gap was over 75% in low-income countries and over 50% in most lower middle- and upper middle-income countries, while many high-income countries had gaps of less than 10%. However, treatment gaps varied widely both between and within countries. They were significantly higher in rural areas (rate ratio, RR: 2.01; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.40–2.89) and countries with lower World Bank income classification (RR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.32–1.82). There was no significant trend in treatment gap over time (RR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.79–1.07).Conclusion There is dramatic global disparity in the care for epilepsy between high- and low- income countries, and between rural and urban settings. Our understanding of the factors affecting the treatment gap is limited; future investigations should explore other potential explanations of the gap.

Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a systematic reviewAna-Claire Meyer,a Tarun Dua,b Juliana Ma,c Shekhar Saxenab & Gretchen Birbeckd

a San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, 1001 Potrero Avenue (4M62), Box 0870, San Francisco, CA, 94110, United States of America (USA).b World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.c Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA.d Chikankata Health Services Epilepsy Care Team, Mazabuka, Zambia.Correspondence to Ana-Claire Meyer (e-mail: [email protected]).(Submitted: 19 March 2009 – Revised version received: 19 August 2009 – Accepted: 20 August 2009 – Published online: 25 September 2009 )

Page 2: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147 261

Ana-Claire Meyer et al. Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

magnitude of the treatment gap world-wide and conducted some preliminary assessments of its variation.

MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature published in all languages from 1 January 1987 to 1 Sep-tember 2007 using PubMed and EM-BASE. Search terms included PubMed MeSH terms and keywords “epilepsy” AND “morbidity,” OR “epilepsy” AND “delivery of health care,” OR “treatment gap” AND “epilepsy”. This generated 14 985 titles. Hand searching of 68 re-views of epilepsy prevalence generated an additional 30 unique titles. All titles were reviewed to identify potential epilepsy prevalence studies, then 499 abstracts and 253 full manuscripts were reviewed to identify population-based epilepsy prevalence studies (Fig. 1). Data were extracted and reviewed independently by two authors.

To be included in the analysis, epi-lepsy prevalence studies had to be based on a population-based sample and ap-ply a standard definition of epilepsy. A population-based sample was defined as a door-to-door or other probability sample of a regional or national population. Stud-ies in which the sample was drawn from a medical care setting were excluded to avoid underestimating the treatment gap. School-based populations in countries where school attendance was low were also excluded. Finally, studies based on methods shown to produce unreliable community-based samples in epilepsy prevalence studies, such as the key infor-mant method, were excluded as well.17,18

The standard definition of epilepsy had to be internally consistent and to

differentiate epilepsy from provoked seizures, febrile seizures and isolated seizures. For lifetime epilepsy, acceptable definitions included a history of more than one unprovoked seizure. For active epilepsy, acceptable definitions included a history of more than one unprovoked seizure and either recent seizures (within the previous 5 years) or current use of anti-epilepsy medication. If the treatment gap or other information was missing from the manuscript, we tried to contact the authors to obtain the information before excluding the study.

Further analysis of the variation in epilepsy treatment gap estimates was lim-ited to studies of active epilepsy, as studies using lifetime epilepsy could overestimate the treatment gap. For example, some individuals captured when considering the lifetime prevalence of epilepsy may be in terminal remission and off treat-ment.19 Including them in the estimates would overestimate the treatment gap because by not being on anti-epileptic drugs, these individuals are receiving the recommended standard of care.

We analysed the variation in the epi-lepsy treatment gap by study area (urban versus rural), country income category and year. We used negative binomial re-gression models to examine associations and trends and used separate models to examine the association between treat-ment gap and study area, country income category and year. Treatment gaps were expressed as the number of untreated persons with active epilepsy, with the number of persons having active epilepsy used as the exposure variable. Studies were classified as rural or not rural based on the site description in the methods section of the manuscripts. Countries were classified as low, lower middle, upper

middle or high-income economies using World Bank criteria.20 Prevalence year was extracted from the manuscripts; if no prevalence year was provided, the year of publication was used instead. World Bank income category and prevalence year, arranged in 5-year intervals, were treated as ordered categorical variables. Stata 10 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, United States of America) was used for the analysis. Significance level was set at P ≤ 0.05.

ResultsOur search yielded 157 epilepsy preva-lence studies that met our stated inclu-sion criteria, but 83 (nearly 53%) of them did not collect treatment gap data. Therefore, our final sample con-sisted of 74 studies representing 38 countries (Table 1 and Table 2, available at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/vol-umes/88/4/09-064147/en/index.html). Of note, we reviewed 60 articles in languages other than English (Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japa-nese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish) and 10 of them were included in the study. Manuscripts included in our final sample were published in English, French, Spanish and Turkish.

Active epilepsy was used to estimate the treatment gap in 54 populations from 28 countries (Table 1) and lifetime epilepsy was used to estimate the treat-ment gap in 18 populations from 16 countries (10 of which were not among the countries for which the active epilepsy gap was estimated). (Table 2). Studies spanned nearly 30 years, from 1978 to 2006, and originated across the globe, including Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. Study populations differed markedly in terms of type of study area (urban versus rural), sample size and degree to which they represented the entire country. Nearly 47% (34/72) of the included studies were drawn from rural populations. Treatment gaps were calculated from samples ranging from 5 to 1175 epilepsy cases. Samples were drawn from many different populations; some were nationally representative, while others represented small ethnic groups, indigenous groups, schoolchildren or military recruits.

Treatment gaps estimated from ac-tive epilepsy prevalence ranged widely between countries. Gaps were 10% or less in China (Province of Taiwan), Norway, Singapore, the United Kingdom of Great

Fig. 1. Flowchart of study selection for systematic review of population-based studies of epilepsy prevalence and treatment gap

14 985 titlesreviewed

68 reviewarticles

499 abstractsreviewed

30 uniquereferences

253manuscripts

reviewed(60 not

in English)

74 studiesmet inclusion

criteria(10 not inEnglish)

- 45 not population based- 83 no treatment data- 18 review or not prevalence study- 22 duplicative or methods papers- 1 no standard definition- 8 incomplete quality- 2 unable to obtain

Page 3: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147262

Ana-Claire Meyer et al.Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, and select populations in Argentina, Brazil and France. In sharp contrast, treatment gaps were greater than 95% in China, Ethiopia, the Gambia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nige-ria, Pakistan, Panama, Togo, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia (Fig. 2). A wide range of treatment gaps was observed within countries as well. For example, treatment gaps in India ranged from 22% in an urban middle- income population to 90% in a sample of rural villages.18,21

Like treatment gaps estimated from active epilepsy prevalence, the gaps estimated from lifetime prevalence also ranged widely, from 6% in Singapore to 100% in Bolivia (Fig. 3).22,23 In most cases, gaps estimated from lifetime preva-lence were larger than those estimated from active epilepsy prevalence. How-ever, paradoxically, in a few low-income countries such as Pakistan and India, the treatment gap estimated from lifetime prevalence was smaller than some or all of the gap estimates based on active epilepsy prevalence.

For the analysis of the variation in the treatment gap, only studies estimating the gap from individuals with active epilepsy were used. In these studies, rural popula-

tions had treatment gaps nearly twice as high as populations from towns or from suburban, semi-urban or urban locations (rate ratio, RR: 2.01; 95% confidence

Fig. 2. Epilepsy treatment gap (%) and standard errors, by country and World Bank income category

0

Trea

tmen

t gap

(%)

100

Standard error

Rural

Urban or mixed

20

Low income

Ugan

da

Children only80

60

40

Togo

Unite

d Rep

ublic

of Tan

zania

Gambia

Ethiop

ia

Pakis

tan

Lao P

eople

’s Dem

ocrat

ic Re

publi

c

Zambia

Nigeria Ind

iaKe

nya

Mali

Madag

asca

r

Sene

gal

China

Ecua

dor

Hondu

ras

Pana

ma

Low middleincome

South

Afric

aTu

rkey

Brazil

Argen

tina

Upper middleincome

Spain

Unite

d Stat

es of

Ameri

ca

Franc

e

Taiwan

, Chin

a

Norway

Unite

d King

dom of

Great B

ritain

and N

orthe

rn Ire

land

High income

Fig. 3. Epilepsy treatment gap (%) and standard errors calculated from lifetime prevalence estimates

0

Trea

tmen

t gap

(%)

100

Bolivi

a

Standard error

Rural

Urban or mixed

50

Low income

Bang

lades

h

Pakis

tan India

Colombia

Jamaic

a

Sri La

nka

China

Camero

on

Guatem

alaFra

nce

Netherl

ands

Unite

d Stat

es

of Am

erica Ita

lySp

ain

Singa

pore

Lower middle income

Children only

High income

Page 4: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147 263

Ana-Claire Meyer et al. Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

interval, CI: 1.40–2.89; Z: 3.77; P < 0.001) (Fig. 4). For example, in India the treatment gap ranged from 40 to 90% in rural areas and from 22 to 50% in mixed, suburban and urban populations.18,21,24,25 Similar trends were observed in Brazil, China, Pakistan and Togo. However, there were a few exceptions: in a rural population from Rajasthan, India, the treatment gap was 40% (the third lowest in India),25 while in a rural population of Mali it was 65% (versus 76% in an urban population).26,27

There was a significant trend towards larger epilepsy treatment gaps in countries with lower incomes; for every one-level decrease in World Bank income category, the treatment gap increased by a factor of 1.55 (95% CI: 1.32–1.82; Z: 5.34; P < 0.001) (Fig. 4). However, within high-income countries, larger gaps were found in select populations. In a small sample from Spain, the treatment gap was greater than 50%, while among the Guaymi Indians in Panama the gap was 100%.28,29 Similarly, select populations in low-income countries had surprisingly small gaps; suburban and urban popula-tions in India, Madagascar and Senegal had treatment gaps of less than 30%.21,30–32

Direct comparisons of treatment gaps over time were difficult to carry out because of differences in study methods and populations. In Ethiopia, two studies

in the same population in which the same methods were used showed a gap of 98% in 1986–1988 and a gap of 87% among new cases identified during a repeat survey in 1990.33,34 Overall, treatment gaps de-creased from 1980 to the present, but no significant trend over time was detected (RR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.79–1.07; Z: −1.08; P = 0.28).

DiscussionThe results of this systematic review of the literature suggest that there are dra-matic global disparities in the care and treatment of epilepsy patients. Treatment gaps for active epilepsy exceeded 75% in most low-income countries and 50% in most lower middle- and upper middle-income countries. In stark contrast, many high-income countries had gaps of less than 10%. However, treatment gaps varied widely, both between and within countries.

Our search methods resulted in more comprehensive estimates of the epilepsy treatment gap than those employed in previous studies. First, our systematic and thorough search strategy and rigor-ous inclusion criteria ensured the quality of included studies. Second, our wider search strategy, which focused on epilepsy prevalence rather than on the treatment gap, captured 26 more studies than did a

recent systematic review,16 even when we applied the same inclusion criteria. Third, our search of the non-English-language literature led to an additional 10 studies.

The subsequent analysis of the varia-tion in the treatment gap showed sig-nificantly higher gaps in rural areas and lower-income countries. These findings are consistent with those for other health indicators, such as the rates of vaccina-tion coverage and of maternal, infant and under-five mortality, which suggest wide disparities in care between rural and urban areas and between high- and low-income countries.35–40 On the other hand, epilepsy treatment gaps have decreased from 1980 to the present, though the trend is not statistically significant.

While intriguing, these preliminary analyses do not fully explain the variation in the treatment gap, which may addition-ally reflect local or regional differences in access to and quality of epilepsy care or in the availability of individual or regional economic resources.13,16 In addition, cul-tural differences in the stigma associated with epilepsy may determine whether an individual seeks care for epilepsy or not.2,6

In our analysis, we found that the treatment gap varied widely both within and between countries and that it was significantly associated with country income classification and a popula-tion’s status as urban or rural. Similarly, prior studies of the gap demonstrated significant heterogeneity in treatment gap estimates.16 The wide variation among estimates as well as the systematic varia-tion as a function of selected covariates suggests that meta-analytic techniques may not be appropriate for obtaining overall population estimates of the epi-lepsy treatment gap. Further study into the influence of macroeconomic and microeconomic factors and of resources for the care of people with epilepsy and other neurologic disorders will be critical to understanding the reasons for this het-erogeneity. Accounting for the systematic variation in the gap is essential to creating summary estimates of the gap. Combining demographic approaches with multiple imputation techniques could generate more representative gap estimates.

Our data set had several limitations. First, our sample was limited because we excluded epilepsy prevalence studies that did not collect treatment information (nearly half of those identified) or that calculated the gap from a potentially biased sample, such as clinic or hospital

Fig. 4. Mean epilepsy treatment gap (%) and standard errors by rural/urban status, World Bank income category and year data collected

0

Trea

tmen

t gap

(%)

100

Standard error

50

Rural

Urban

Low in

come

Lower

middle

incom

e

Uppe

r midd

le inc

ome

High in

come

1980

–84

1985

–89

1990

–94

1995

–99

2000

–04

2004

–08

a

c

b

a RR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.40–2.89,P < 0.001a b RR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.32–1.82,P < 0.001b c RR = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.79–1.07,P = 0.28c

Page 5: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147264

Ana-Claire Meyer et al.Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

ملخص التباين العاملي يف فجوة معالجة الرصع: مراجعة منهجيةالغرض: وصف املقدار والتباين العاملي يف فجوة معالجة الرصع.

خضعت التي للمنشورات منهجية مراجعة الباحثون أجرى الطريقة: ملراجعة الزمالء ونرشت خالل الفرتة من أول كانون الثاين/يناير 1987 حتى النرشيات موقعي يف املستخدمة اللغات بجميع 2007 أيلول/سبتمرب أول ذلك وراء الهدف وكان .EMBASE و PubMed اإلنرتنت عىل الطبية تحديد الدراسات السكانية النتشار الرصع التي أبلغت عن وجود فجوة يف معالجة الرصع، وميكن تعريف الفجوة عىل أنها نسبة املصابني بالرصع الذين يحتاجون إىل العالج ولكن ال يحصلون عليه. استخدمت مناذج توزيع التحوف

ثنايئ الحد لتقييم االتجاهات واالرتباطات. البلدان املنخفضة بلغت فجوة املعالجة أكرث من %75 يف املوجودات: الدخل، وأكرث من %50 يف أغلب البلدان الواقعة يف املرتبة السفىل واملرتبة البلدان املتوسطة الدخل، يف حني بلغت أقل من %10 يف أغلب العليا من

البلدان املرتفعة الدخل، إال أن فجوة املعالجة تباينت عىل نحو واسع سواء بني البلدان بعضها البعض أو يف داخل البلدان نفسها. وكانت الفجوة أعىل بدرجة يعتد بها يف املناطق الريفية )نسبة املعدل rate ratio: 2.01؛ وفاصلة منخفضة البلدان ويف )confidence interval 95%: 1.40 - 2.89 الثقة الثقة وفاصلة 1.55؛ املعدل: )نسبة الدويل البنك تصنيف حسب الدخل العالجية مع الفجوة به يف يعتد اتجاه %95: 1.32 - 1.82(. ومل يكن هنا

مرور الوقت )نسبة املعدل: 0.92؛ فاصلة الثقة 95%: 0.79 - 1.07(.املرتفعة البلدان بني الرصع رعاية يف ملحوظ تباين هناك االستنتاج: الدخل والبلدان املنخفضة الدخل، وبني املناطق الريفية واملناطق الحرضية. ومازال اإلملام بالعوامل التي تؤثر يف الفجوة العالجية محدوداً؛ وينبغي أن

تستكشف االستقصاءات مستقباًل سائر التفسريات املحتملة لهذه الفجوة.

patients. Using lifetime prevalence to calculate the gap could have resulted in an overestimate, so we only included data on lifetime prevalence for descrip-tive purposes.

Furthermore, our ability to generate national treatment gap estimates was lim-ited. Most treatment gap estimates were based on data from selected populations that were not representative of the nation as a whole. A sample not representative of the population was not a criterion for exclusion because it was a limitation of nearly all the studies reviewed. Among the studies we included were several per-formed in a rural or urban area only,34,41 among the elderly or children exclu-sively,27,42,43 in areas with a high prevalence of epilepsy,44 in military22,45 or school populations,46 or in regions populated by only one or a few ethnic groups.7,47 Likewise, several included studies had been conducted in ethnic or social groups that differed from the population of the country as a whole. Examples include the Parsi community in India,21 the Bakairi indians from Brazil,44 the Zay society in Ethiopia48 or the Guaymi indians of Panama.28 Therefore, caution should be exercised in extrapolating treatment gap estimates from such select populations to the country as a whole without proper adjustment.

Although we tried to minimize varia-tion by means of our inclusion criteria,

study methods – case ascertainment, sampling technique, the definitions of active epilepsy and of adequate treatment, etc. – differed widely among studies. The quality and comparability of treatment gap data could be improved by apply-ing standard definitions for adequate treatment and active epilepsy and by using more nationally representative population-based samples to generate active epilepsy prevalence and estimate the treatment gap. Better insight into the causes of this gap would be obtained if epilepsy prevalence studies routinely collected information on other sociode-mographic characteristics, the availability and accessibility of local or regional health services and treatment, and the stigma associated with seeking care.

ConclusionIn summary, our systematic review of the epilepsy treatment gap worldwide shows a dramatic global disparity in the care of epilepsy patients between high- and low-income countries and between rural and urban settings. Epilepsy is a common and potentially serious neurological dis-order that can be diagnosed and treated inexpensively. Historically, epilepsy has received little public health attention despite poor health outcomes and po-tentially devastating social consequences from untreated disease. In recent years,

many countries have undertaken initia-tives to decrease the epilepsy treatment gap, notably the demonstration projects such as the Global Campaign Against Epilepsy, conducted jointly by the In-ternational League against Epilepsy, the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the World Health Organization. Large community based trials in Brazil and China have demonstrated that epilepsy can be treated with inexpensive and ef-fective drugs at the community level by primary health professionals with basic training.5,49 Increased commitment by the global health community is needed to reduce the treatment gap and thereby reduce the potentially devastating social consequences and poor health outcomes resulting from untreated epilepsy. ■

AcknowledgementsWe thank John Boscardin, Associate Professor of Medicine and Biostatistics, for his help with the statistical analysis.

Funding: Ana-Claire Meyer: Veterans Affairs/Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, American Academy of Neurology Practice Research Train-ing Fellowship. Gretchen Birbeck: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study.

Competing interests: None declared.

Page 6: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147 265

Ana-Claire Meyer et al. Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Objectif Décrire l’ampleur et les variations de l’insuffisance du traitement de l’épilepsie dans le monde. Méthodes A l’aide de PubMed et d’EMBASE, nous avons réalisé une revue systématique de la littérature examinée par des pairs et publiée entre le 1er janvier 1987 et le 1er septembre 2007 dans toutes les langues. L’objectif était d’identifier des études en population de la prévalence de l’épilepsie indiquant l’insuffisance du traitement de cette maladie, définie comme la proportion des personnes épileptiques ayant besoin d’être traitées, mais ne recevant pas de traitement. Des modèles par régression binomiale négative ont été utilisés pour évaluer les tendances et les associations. Résultats L’insuffisance du traitement de l’épilepsie dépassait 75 % dans les pays à faible revenu et 50 % dans la plupart des pays à revenu moyen inférieur et moyen supérieur, alors que dans de nombreux pays à revenu élevé, cette insuffisance était inférieure à 10 %. Néanmoins,

l’insuffisance du traitement variait fortement d’un pays à l’autre et au sein d’un même pays. Elle était significativement plus importante dans les zones rurales (risque relatif, RR : 2,01 ; intervalle de confiance à 95 %, IC : 1,40-2,89) et dans les pays appartenant à la classe de revenu inférieure de la Banque mondiale (RR : 1,55 ; IC à 95 % : 1,32-1,82). On n’a relevé aucune tendance significative de l’insuffisance du traitement de l’épilepsie au cours du temps (RR : 0,92 ; IC à 95 % : 0,79-1,07). Conclusion Il existe à travers le monde des disparités considérables dans les soins dispensés aux épileptiques, et notamment entre les pays à revenu faible et élevé et entre les environnements ruraux et urbains. Notre compréhension des facteurs influant sur l’insuffisance du traitement est limitée : dans le cadre d’investigations futures, il conviendrait d’étudier d’autres explications possibles de cette insuffisance.

Resumen

Disparidades mundiales en la brecha de tratamiento de la epilepsia: revisión sistemáticaObjetivo Describir la magnitud y las diferencias de la brecha de tratamiento de la epilepsia a nivel mundial. Métodos A través de PubMed y EMBASE, se hizo una revisión sistemática de los artículos revisados por homólogos publicados entre el 1 de enero de 1987 y el 1 de septiembre de 2007. La finalidad era encontrar estudios poblacionales sobre la prevalencia de la epilepsia que informaran acerca de la brecha de tratamiento de esa enfermedad, definida como la proporción de personas afectadas que necesitan pero no reciben tratamiento. Las tendencias y relaciones se evaluaron mediante modelos de regresión binomial negativa.Resultados La brecha terapéutica era superior al 75% en los países de ingresos bajos, y superior al 50% en la mayoría de los países de ingresos medios bajos y medios altos, mientras que muchos países de ingresos

altos presentaban brechas inferiores al 10%. Sin embargo, la magnitud de la brecha terapéutica difería ampliamente tanto entre los países como en cada país. Era significativamente mayor en las zonas rurales (razón de tasas, RT: 2,01, intervalo de confianza del 95%: 1,40–2,89) y en los países incluidos en la categoría de ingresos bajos del Banco Mundial (RT: 1,55, IC95%: 1,32–1,82). No se observó ninguna tendencia significativa de la brecha a lo largo del tiempo (RT: 0,92, IC95%: 0,79–1,07).Conclusión En lo referente al tratamiento de la epilepsia, existe una enorme disparidad mundial entre los países de altos y de bajos ingresos, y entre las zonas rurales y las urbanas. Nuestros conocimientos sobre los factores que determinan esa brecha terapéutica son limitados, y en las investigaciones futuras se deberían estudiar otras posibles explicaciones de la misma.

References1. Leonardi M, Ustun T. The global burden of epilepsy. Epilepsia 2002;43(Suppl

6):21–5. doi:10.1046/j.1528-1157.43.s.6.11.x PMID:121909742. de Boer HM, Mula M, Sander JW. The global burden and stigma of epilepsy.

Epilepsy Behav 2008;12:540–6. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.12.019 PMID:18280210

3. Kwan P, Brodie M. Phenobarbital for the treatment of epilepsy in the 21st century: a critical review. Epilepsia 2004;45:1141–9. doi:10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.12704.x PMID:15329080

4. Chisholm D; WHO-CHOICE. Cost-effectiveness of first-line antiepileptic drug treatments in the developing world: a population-level analysis. Epilepsia 2005;46:751–9. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2005.52704.x PMID:15857443

5. Wang WZ, Wu J, Ma G, Dai X, Yang B, Wang T et al.Efficacy assessment of phenobarbital in epilepsy: a large community-based intervention trial in rural China. Lancet Neurol 2006;5:46–52. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(05)70254-4 PMID:16361022

6. Baskind R, Birbeck GL. Epilepsy-associated stigma in sub-Saharan Africa: the social landscape of a disease. Epilepsy Behav 2005;7:68–73. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.04.009 PMID:15978874

7. Birbeck G, Chomba E, Atadzhanov M, Mbewe E, Haworth A. The social and economic impact of epilepsy in Zambia: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Neurol 2007;6:39–44. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70629-9 PMID:17166800

8. Birbeck GL. Seizures in rural Zambia. Epilepsia 2000;41:277–81. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.2000.tb00156.x PMID:10714398

9. Jilek-Aall L, Rwiza H. Prognosis of epilepsy in a rural African community: a 30 year follow-up of 164 patients in an outpatient clinic in rural Tanzania. Epilepsia 1992;33:645–50. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.1992.tb02341.x PMID:1628578

10. Amoroso C, Zwi A, Somerville E, Grove N. Epilepsy and stigma. Lancet 2006;367:1143–4. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68503-6 PMID:16616554

11. Jacoby A, Snape D, Baker G. Epilepsy and social identity: the stigma of a chronic neurological disorder. Lancet Neurol 2005;4:171–8. PMID:15721827

12. Ding D, Wang W, Wu J, Ma G, Dai X, Yang B et al.Premature mortality in people with epilepsy in rural China: a prospective study. Lancet Neurol 2006;5:823–7. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70528-2 PMID:16987728

13. Kale R. Global Campaign against Epilepsy: the treatment gap. Epilepsia 2002;43(Suppl 6):31–3. doi:10.1046/j.1528-1157.43.s.6.13.x PMID:12190976

14. Begley CE, Baker GA, Beghi E, Butler J, Chisholm D, Langfitt J et al.Cross-country measures for monitoring epilepsy care. Epilepsia 2007;48:990–1001. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.00981.x PMID:17319922

15. Diop AG, de Boer HM, Mandlhate C, Prilipko L, Meinardi H. The global campaign against epilepsy in Africa. Acta Trop 2003;87:149–59. doi:10.1016/S0001-706X(03)00038-X PMID:12781390

16. Mbuba CK, Ngugi AK, Newton CR, Carter JA. The epilepsy treatment gap in developing countries: a systematic review of the magnitude, causes, and intervention strategies Epilepsia 2008. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01693.x PMID:18557778

Résumé

Disparités mondiales dans l’insuffisance de traitement de l’épilepsie : revue systématique

Page 7: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147266

Ana-Claire Meyer et al.Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

17. Kaamugisha J, Feksi AT. Determining the prevalence of epilepsy in the semi-urban population of Nakuru, Kenya, comparing two independent methods not apparently used before in epilepsy studies. Neuroepidemiology 1988;7:115–21. doi:10.1159/000110144 PMID:3136404

18. Pal DK, Das T, Sengupta S. Comparison of key informant and survey methods for ascertainment of childhood epilepsy in West Bengal, India. Int J Epidemiol 1998;27:672–6. doi:10.1093/ije/27.4.672 PMID:9758124

19. Haerer AF, Anderson DW, Schoenberg BS. Prevalence and clinical features of epilepsy in a biracial United States population. Epilepsia 1986;27:66–75. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.1986.tb03503.x PMID:3948820

20. World development indicators. Washington, DC: The World Bank; 2006. 21. Bharucha NE, Bharucha EP, Bharucha AE, Bhise AV, Schoenberg BS.

Prevalence of epilepsy in the Parsi community of Bombay. Epilepsia 1988;29:111–5. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.1988.tb04405.x PMID:3258234

22. Kun LN, Ling LW, Wah YW, Lian TT. Epidemiologic study of epilepsy in young Singaporean men. Epilepsia 1999;40:1384–7. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb02009.x PMID:10528933

23. Nicoletti A, Reggio A, Bartoloni A, Failla G, Sofia V, Bartalesi F et al.Prevalence of epilepsy in rural Bolivia: a door-to-door survey. Neurology 1999;53:2064–9. PMID:10599782

24. Hackett RJ, Hackett L, Bhakta P. The prevalence and associated factors of epilepsy in children in Calicut District, Kerala, India. Acta Paediatr 1997;86:1257–60. doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1997.tb14857.x PMID:9401524

25. Sureka RK, Sureka R. Prevalence of epilepsy in rural Rajasthan — a door-to-door survey. J Assoc Physicians India 2007;55:741–2. PMID:18173034

26. Farnarier G, Diop S, Coulibaly B, Arborio S, Dabo A, Diakite M et al.Onchocerciasis and epilepsy. Epidemiological survey in Mali Med Trop (Mars) 2000;60:151–5. French PMID:11100441

27. Traoré M, Tahny R, Sacko M.. Prevalence de l’epilepsie chez les enfants de 3 a 15 ans dans 2 communes du district de Bamako Rev Neurol (Paris) 2000;156(Suppl 1):S18.French

28. Gracia F, de Lao SL, Castillo L, Larreategui M, Archbold C, Brenes MM et al.Epidemiology of epilepsy in Guaymi Indians from Bocas del Toro Province, Republic of Panama. Epilepsia 1990;31:718–23. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.1990.tb05512.x PMID:2245802

29. Cruz Gutierrez-del-Olmo M, Schoenberg BS, Portera-Sanchez A. Prevalence of neurological diseases in Madrid, Spain. Neuroepidemiology 1989;8:43–7. doi:10.1159/000110164 PMID:2643061

30. Ndoye NF, Sow AD, Diop AG, Sessouma B, Sene-Diouf F, Boissy L et al.Prevalence of epilepsy its treatment gap and knowledge, attitude and practice of its population in sub-urban Senegal an ILAE/IBE/WHO study. Seizure 2005;14:106–11. doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2004.11.003 PMID:15694563

31. Andriantseheno L, Ralaizandriny D. Prevalence communautaire de l’epilepsie chez les Malgaches. Epilepsies 2004;16:83–6.

32. Radhakrishnan K, Pandian JD, Santhoshkumar T, Thomas SV, Deetha TD, Sarma PS et al.Prevalence, knowledge, attitude, and practice of epilepsy in Kerala, South India. Epilepsia 2000;41:1027–35. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.2000.tb00289.x PMID:10961631

33. Tekle-Haimanot R, Forsgren L, Abebe M, Gebre-Mariam A, Heijbel J, Holmgren G et al.Clinical and electroencephalographic characteristics of epilepsy in rural Ethiopia: a community based study. Epilepsy Res 1990;7:230–9. doi:10.1016/0920-1211(90)90020-V PMID:2289482

34. Tekle-Haimanot R, Forsgren L, Ekstedt J. Incidence of epilepsy in rural central Ethiopia. Epilepsia 1997;38:541–6. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.1997.tb01138.x PMID:9184599

35. Bender DE, Rivera T, Madonna D. Rural origin as a risk factor for maternal and child health in periurban Bolivia. Soc Sci Med 1993;37:1345–9. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(93)90164-Y PMID:8284701

36. Anand S, Barnighausen T. Human resources and health outcomes: cross-country econometric study. Lancet 2004;364:1603–9. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17313-3 PMID:15519630

37. Anand S, Barnighausen T. Health workers and vaccination coverage in developing countries: an econometric analysis. Lancet 2007;369:1277–85. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60599-6 PMID:17434403

38. Hobcraft JN, McDonald J, Rutstein S. Socio-economic factors in infant and child mortality: a cross-national comparison. Popul Stud 1984;38:193–223. doi:10.2307/2174073

39. Senior M, Williams H, Higgs G. Urban-rural mortality differentials: controlling for material deprivation. Soc Sci Med 2000;51:289–305. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00454-2 PMID:10832575

40. Sastry N. What explains rural-urban differentials in child mortality in Brazil? Soc Sci Med 1997;44:989–1002. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(96)00224-9 PMID:9089920

41. Gomes Md Mda M, Zeitoune RG, Kropf LA, Beeck Ed Eda S. A house-to-house survey of epileptic seizures in an urban community of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2002;60(3-B):708–11. PMID:12364934

42. Kurtz Z, Tookey P, Ross E. Epilepsy in young people: 23 year follow up of the British national child development study. BMJ 1998;316:339–42. PMID:9487166

43. de la Court A, Breteler MM, Meinardi H, Hauser WA, Hofman A. Prevalence of epilepsy in the elderly: the Rotterdam Study. Epilepsia 1996;37:141–7. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1157.1996.tb00005.x PMID:8635424

44. Borges MA, Barros EP, Zanetta DM, Borges AP. Prevalence of epilepsy in Bakairi indians from Mato Grosso State, Brazil Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2002;60:80–5. PMID:11965413

45. Jallon P. Evaluation du taux de prevalence de l’epilepsie dans un centre de selecion de l’armee. Rev Neurol 1991;147:319–22. PMID:2063084

46. Somoza MJ, Forlenza RH, Brussino M, Licciardi L. Epidemiological survey of epilepsy in the primary school population in Buenos Aires. Neuroepidemiology 2005;25:62–8. doi:10.1159/000086285 PMID:15947492

47. Edwards T, Scott AG, Munyoki G, Odera VM, Chengo E, Bauni E et al.Active convulsive epilepsy in a rural district of Kenya: a study of prevalence and possible risk factors. Lancet Neurol 2008;7:50–6. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(07)70292-2 PMID:18068520

48. Almu S, Tadesse Z, Cooper P, Hackett R. The prevalence of epilepsy in the Zay Society, Ethiopia, an area of high prevalence. Seizure 2006;15:211–3. doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2006.01.004 PMID:16488161

49. Li LM, Fernandes P, Noronha A, Marques L, Borges M, Borges K et al.Demonstration project on epilepsy in Brazil: outcome assessment. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2007;65(Suppl 1):58–62. PMID:17581670

Page 8: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

A

Ana-Claire Meyer et al. Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147

Tabl

e 1.

Stu

dies

use

d fo

r est

imat

ing

epile

psy

trea

tmen

t gap

bas

ed o

n th

e pr

eval

ence

of a

ctiv

e ep

ileps

y, by

cou

ntry

Coun

try

Loca

tion

Year

No. o

f ca

ses

% tr

eatm

ent

gap

Setti

ng/

popu

latio

nSt

udy

Arge

ntin

aJu

nin

1991

6422

Tow

nKo

chen

S, M

elco

n M

O. P

rogn

osis

of e

pile

psy

in a

com

mun

ity-b

ased

stu

dy: 8

yea

rs o

f fol

low

-up

in a

n Ar

gent

ine

com

mun

ity. A

cta

Neur

ol S

cand

200

5;11

2:37

0-4.

doi

:10.

1111

/j.16

00-0

404.

2005

.005

19.x

PM

ID:1

6281

918

Arge

ntin

aBu

enos

Aire

s19

9184

7Ur

ban,

pr

imar

y

scho

ol

Som

oza

MJ,

For

lenz

a RH

, Bru

ssin

o M

, Lic

ciar

di L

. Epi

dem

iolo

gica

l sur

vey

of e

pile

psy

in th

e pr

imar

y sc

hool

po

pula

tion

in B

ueno

s Ai

res.

Neu

roep

idem

iolo

gy 2

005;

25:6

2-8.

doi

:10.

1159

/000

0862

85 P

MID

:159

4749

2

Braz

ilM

ato

Gros

so s

tate

2000

967

Rura

l, Ba

kairi

in

dian

sBo

rges

MA,

Bar

ros

EP, Z

anet

ta D

M, B

orge

s AP

. Pre

vale

nce

of e

pile

psy

in B

akai

ri in

dian

s fro

m M

ato

Gros

so

Stat

e, B

razil

. Arq

Neu

rops

iqui

atr 2

002;

60:8

0-5

[Por

tugu

ese.

]. PM

ID:1

1965

413

Braz

ilRi

o de

Jan

eiro

2000

50

Urba

n, lo

w-

inco

me

Gom

es M

, Zei

toun

e R,

Kro

pf L

, Van

Bee

ck E

. A h

ouse

-to-

hous

e su

rvey

of e

pile

ptic

sei

zure

s in

an

urba

n co

mm

unity

of R

io d

e Ja

neiro

, Bra

zil. A

rq N

euro

psiq

uiat

r 200

2;60

:708

-11.

PM

ID:1

2364

934

Braz

ilBa

rao

Gera

ldo,

Cam

pina

s; J

agua

re

and

Sant

o An

toni

o, S

ao J

ose

do R

io

Pret

o, s

outh

-eas

tern

Bra

zil

2002

290

38M

ixed

Noro

nha

AL, B

orge

s M

, Mar

ques

L, Z

anet

ta D

, Fer

nand

es P

, De

Boer

H, e

t al.

Prev

alen

ce a

nd p

atte

rn o

f ep

ileps

y tre

atm

ent i

n di

ffere

nt s

ocio

econ

omic

cla

sses

in B

razil

. Epi

leps

ia 2

007;

48:8

80-8

85. d

oi:1

0.11

11/

j.152

8-11

67.2

006.

0097

4.x

PMID

:173

2678

8Ch

ina

5 pr

ovin

ces:

Hei

long

jiang

, Nin

gxia

, He

nan,

Sha

nxi,

Jian

gsu

2003

a25

763

Mixe

dW

ang

WZ,

Wu

JZ, W

ang

DS, D

ai X

Y, Ya

ng B

, Wan

g TP

, et a

l. Th

e pr

eval

ence

and

trea

tmen

t gap

in e

pile

psy

in C

hina

: an

ILAE

/IBE/

WHO

stu

dy. N

euro

logy

200

3;60

:154

4-5.

PM

ID:1

2743

252

Chin

a, P

rovin

ce

of T

aiw

an20

dis

trict

s an

d to

wns

hips

in Il

an

Coun

ty, N

E Ta

iwan

1993

–95

254

Mixe

d,

adul

ts >

40

yr

s ol

d

Su C

L, C

hang

SF,

Chen

ZY,

Lee

CS, C

hen

RC. N

euro

epid

emio

logi

cal s

urve

y in

Ilan

, Tai

wan

(NES

IT):

Prev

alen

ce o

f epi

leps

y. Ac

ta N

euro

l Tai

wan

1998

;7:7

5-84

.

Chin

aTi

bet A

uton

omou

s Re

gion

2006

3597

Rura

lZh

ao Y,

Zha

ng Q

, Tse

ring

T, Sa

ngw

an, H

u X,

Liu

L, e

t al.

Prev

alen

ce o

f con

vuls

ive e

pile

psy

and

heal

th-

rela

ted

qual

ity o

f life

of t

he p

opul

atio

n w

ith c

onvu

lsive

epi

leps

y in

rura

l are

as o

f Tib

et A

uton

omou

s Re

gion

in

Chi

na: A

n in

itial

sur

vey

durin

g a

verb

al e

piso

dic

mem

ory

task

. Epi

leps

y Be

hav

2008

;12:

373-

81.

doi:1

0.10

16/j.

yebe

h.20

07.1

0.01

2 PM

ID:1

8180

204

Ecua

dor

Atah

ualp

a20

0318

28Ru

ral

Del B

rutto

OH,

San

tiban

ez R

, Idr

ovo

L, R

odrig

uez

S, D

iaz-

Cald

eron

E, N

avas

C, e

t al.

Epile

psy

and

neur

ocys

ticer

cosi

s in

Ata

hual

pa: a

doo

r-to

-doo

r sur

vey

in ru

ral c

oast

al E

cuad

or. E

pile

psia

200

5;46

:583

-7.

doi:1

0.11

11/j.

0013

-958

0.20

05.3

6504

.x P

MID

:158

1695

6Ec

uado

rEl

Car

chi a

nd Im

babu

ra re

gion

s,

north

ern

Ecua

dor

1992

a57

579

Rura

lPl

acen

cia

M, S

horv

on S

D, P

ared

es V

, Bim

os C

, San

der J

W, S

uare

z J,

et a

l. Ep

ilept

ic s

eizu

res

in a

n An

dean

regi

on o

f Ecu

ador

. Inc

iden

ce a

nd p

reva

lenc

e an

d re

gion

al v

aria

tion.

Bra

in 1

992;

115:

771-

82.

doi:1

0.10

93/b

rain

/115

.3.7

71 P

MID

:162

8201

Pl

acen

cia

M, S

ande

r J, R

oman

M, M

ader

a A,

Cre

spo

F, Ca

scan

te S

, et a

l. Th

e ch

arac

teris

tics

of e

pile

psy

in a

larg

ely

untre

ated

pop

ulat

ion

in ru

ral E

cuad

or. J

Neu

rol N

euro

surg

Psy

chia

try 1

994;

57:3

20-5

. do

i:10.

1136

/jnnp

.57.

3.32

0 PM

ID:8

1581

80Et

hiop

iaZa

y so

ciet

y20

06a

3453

Rura

lAl

mu

S, T

ades

se Z

, Coo

per P

, Hac

kett

R. T

he p

reva

lenc

e of

epi

leps

y in

the

Zay

Soci

ety,

Ethi

opia

– a

n ar

ea

of h

igh

prev

alen

ce. S

eizu

re 2

006;

15:2

11-3

. doi

:10.

1016

/j.se

izure

.200

6.01

.004

PM

ID:1

6488

161

Ethi

opia

Mes

kan

and

Mar

eko

sub-

dist

rict,

Hayk

och

and

Buta

jira

dist

rict

1986

–198

830

698

Rura

lTe

kle-

Haim

anot

R, F

orsg

ren

L, A

bebe

M, G

ebre

-Mar

iam

A, H

eijb

el J

, Hol

mgr

en G

, et a

l. Cl

inic

al a

nd

elec

troen

ceph

alog

raph

ic c

hara

cter

istic

s of

epi

leps

y in

rura

l Eth

iopi

a: a

com

mun

ity b

ased

stu

dy. E

pile

psy

Res

1990

;7:2

30-9

. doi

:10.

1016

/092

0-12

11(9

0)90

020-

V PM

ID:2

2894

82Et

hiop

iaM

eska

n an

d M

arek

o su

b-di

stric

t, Ha

ykoc

h an

d Bu

tajir

a di

stric

t19

9013

987

Rura

lTe

kle-

Haim

anot

R, F

orsg

ren

L, E

kste

dt J

. Inc

iden

ce o

f epi

leps

y in

rura

l cen

tral E

thio

pia.

Epi

leps

ia

1997

;38:

541-

6. d

oi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-115

7.19

97.tb

0113

8.x

PMID

:918

4599

Fran

cePa

ris, S

eine

et M

arne

, Sei

ne S

aint

-De

nis,

Val

de

Mar

ne19

87–1

988

149

7Ur

ban

Jallo

n P.

Eval

uatio

n of

epi

leps

y pr

eval

ence

rate

in y

oung

recr

uits

in a

milit

ary

sele

ctio

n ce

ntre

. Rev

Neu

rol

1991

;147

:319

-22.

PM

ID:2

0630

84

Page 9: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

B

Ana-Claire Meyer et al.Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147

Coun

try

Loca

tion

Year

No. o

f ca

ses

% tr

eatm

ent

gap

Setti

ng/

popu

latio

nSt

udy

Gam

bia

Fara

fenn

i19

97, 1

999

6910

0Ru

ral

Cole

man

R, L

oppy

L, W

alra

ven

G. T

he tr

eatm

ent g

ap a

nd p

rimar

y he

alth

car

e fo

r peo

ple

with

epi

leps

y in

ru

ral G

ambi

a. B

ull W

orld

Hea

lth O

rgan

200

2;80

:378

-83.

PM

ID:1

2077

613

Hond

uras

Sala

ma

Coun

ty19

9710

058

Rura

lM

edin

a M

T, Du

ron

RM, M

artin

ez L

, Oso

rio J

R, E

stra

da A

L, Z

unig

a C,

et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

, inc

iden

ce, a

nd

etio

logy

of e

pile

psie

s in

rura

l Hon

dura

s: th

e Sa

lam

a St

udy.

Epile

psia

200

5;46

:124

-31.

doi

:10.

1111

/j.0

013-

9580

.200

5.11

704.

x PM

ID:1

5660

778

Indi

aPa

rsi c

omm

unity

of B

omba

y19

8550

22Ur

ban

Bhar

ucha

NE,

Bha

ruch

a E,

Bha

ruch

a A,

Bhi

se A

, Sch

oenb

erg

B. P

reva

lenc

e of

epi

leps

y in

the

Pars

i co

mm

unity

of B

omba

y. Ep

ileps

ia 1

988;

29:1

11-5

. doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1988

.tb04

405.

x PM

ID:3

2582

34In

dia

Calic

ut d

istri

ct, K

eral

a19

97a

2650

Mixe

dHa

cket

t RJ,

Hac

kett

L, B

hakt

a P.

The

prev

alen

ce a

nd a

ssoc

iate

d fa

ctor

s of

epi

leps

y in

chi

ldre

n in

Cal

icut

Di

stric

t, Ke

rala

, Ind

ia. A

cta

Paed

iatr

1997

;86:

1257

-60.

doi

:10.

1111

/j.16

51-2

227.

1997

.tb14

857.

x PM

ID:9

4015

24In

dia

Kuth

ar V

alle

y, An

antn

ag d

istri

ct,

Sout

h Ka

shm

ir19

8615

775

Rura

lKo

ul R

, Raz

dan

S, M

otta

A. P

reva

lenc

e an

d pa

ttern

of e

pile

psy

(Lat

h/M

irgi/L

aran

) in

Rura

l Kas

hmir,

Indi

a.

Epile

psia

198

8;29

:116

-22.

doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1988

.tb04

406.

x PM

ID:3

2582

35

Razd

an S

, Kau

l R, M

otta

A, K

aul S

, Bha

tt R.

Pre

vale

nce

and

patte

rn o

f maj

or n

euro

logi

cal d

isor

ders

in ru

ral

Kash

mir

(Indi

a) in

198

6. N

euro

epid

emio

logy

199

4;13

:113

-9. d

oi:1

0.11

59/0

0011

0368

PM

ID:8

0156

64In

dia

Yela

ndur

, Kar

nata

ka, s

outh

Indi

a19

90–1

991

457

78Ru

ral

Man

i KS,

Ran

gan

G, S

riniva

s HV

, Kal

yana

sund

aram

S, N

aren

dran

S, R

eddy

AK.

The

Yel

andu

r stu

dy:

a co

mm

unity

-bas

ed a

ppro

ach

to e

pile

psy

in ru

ral S

outh

Indi

a –

epid

emio

logi

cal a

spec

ts. S

eizu

re

1998

;7:2

81-8

. doi

:10.

1016

/S10

59-1

311(

98)8

0019

-8 P

MID

:973

3402

Indi

aW

est B

enga

l19

95–1

996

9090

Rura

lPa

l DK,

Das

T, S

engu

pta

S. C

ompa

rison

of k

ey in

form

ant a

nd s

urve

y m

etho

ds fo

r asc

erta

inm

ent o

f ch

ildho

od e

pile

psy

in W

est B

enga

l, In

dia.

Int J

Epi

dem

iol 1

998;

27:6

72-6

. doi

:10.

1093

/ije/

27.4

.672

PM

ID:9

7581

24In

dia

Thris

sur,

Pala

kkad

, Mal

appu

ram

di

stric

ts, K

eral

a, s

outh

Indi

a; H

igh

liter

acy

and

heal

th a

war

enes

s

1996

1175

38Se

mi-u

rban

Radh

akris

hnan

K, P

andi

an J

D, S

anth

oshk

umar

T, T

hom

as S

V, D

eeth

a TD

, Sar

ma

PS, e

t al.

Prev

alen

ce,

know

ledg

e, a

ttitu

de, a

nd p

ract

ice

of e

pile

psy

in K

eral

a, S

outh

Indi

a. E

pile

psia

200

0;41

:102

7-35

. do

i:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

2000

.tb00

289.

x PM

ID:1

0961

631

Indi

aBa

ruip

ur b

lock

, wes

t Ben

gal,

east

In

dia

1992

–199

375

65Ru

ral

Saha

SP,

Bhat

tach

arya

S, D

as S

K, M

aity

B, R

oy T,

Rau

t DK.

Epi

dem

iolo

gica

l stu

dy o

f neu

rolo

gica

l dis

orde

rs

in a

rura

l pop

ulat

ion

of E

aste

rn In

dia.

J In

dian

Med

Ass

oc 2

003;

101:

299-

300.

PM

ID:1

4575

218

Indi

aCh

uru

Tehs

il, R

ajas

than

2005

517

40Ru

ral

Sure

ka R

K, S

urek

a R.

Pre

vale

nce

of e

pile

psy

in ru

ral R

ajas

than

– a

doo

r-to

-doo

r sur

vey.

J As

soc

Phys

ician

s In

dia

2007

;55:

741-

2. P

MID

:181

7303

4Ke

nya

Kilifi

dis

trict

2003

408

85Ru

ral

Edw

ards

T, S

cott

AG, M

unyo

ki G

, Ode

ra V

M, C

heng

o E,

Bau

ni E

, et a

l. Ac

tive

conv

ulsi

ve e

pile

psy

in a

ru

ral d

istri

ct o

f Ken

ya: a

stu

dy o

f pre

vale

nce

and

poss

ible

risk

fact

ors.

Lan

cet N

euro

l 200

8;7:

50-6

. do

i:10.

1016

/S14

74-4

422(

07)7

0292

-2 P

MID

:180

6852

0La

o Pe

ople

’s

Dem

ocra

tic

Repu

blic

Dist

rict H

inhe

ub20

03–2

004

3397

Rura

lTr

an D

S, O

derm

att P

, Le

TO, H

uc P

, Dru

et-C

aban

ac M

, Bar

enne

s H,

et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of e

pile

psy

in a

ru

ral d

istri

ct o

f cen

tral L

ao P

eopl

e’s

Dem

ocra

tic R

epub

lic P

DR. N

euro

epid

emio

logy

200

6;26

:199

-206

. do

i:10.

1159

/000

0924

07 P

MID

:165

6993

6M

adag

asca

rGr

and

Anta

nana

rivo

2001

2532

Urba

nAn

dria

ntse

heno

L, R

alai

zand

riny

D. P

reva

lenc

e co

mm

unau

taire

de

l’epi

leps

ie c

hez

les

Mal

gach

es.

Epile

psie

s 20

04;1

6:83

-6.

Mal

i18

villa

ges

in T

yenf

ala,

Bag

uine

da20

0070

65Ru

ral

Farn

arie

r G, D

iop

S, C

oulib

aly

B, A

rbor

io S

, Dab

o A,

Dia

kite

M, e

t al.

[Onc

hoce

rcia

sis

and

epile

psy.

Epid

emio

logi

cal s

urve

y in

Mal

i]. M

ed Tr

op (M

ars)

200

0;60

:151

-5. P

MID

:111

0044

1M

ali

Com

une

IV a

nd C

omun

e VI

, Bam

ako

dist

rict

1998

4676

Urba

nTr

aore

M, T

ahny

R, S

acko

M. P

reva

lenc

e de

l’ep

ileps

ie c

hez

les

enfa

nts

de 3

a 1

5 an

s da

ns 2

com

mun

es

du d

istri

ct d

e Ba

mak

o. R

ev N

euro

l (Pa

ris) 2

000;

156:

Sup

pl 1

:S18

.

Page 10: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

C

Ana-Claire Meyer et al. Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147

Coun

try

Loca

tion

Year

No. o

f ca

ses

% tr

eatm

ent

gap

Setti

ng/

popu

latio

nSt

udy

Nige

riaIg

bo-O

ra19

8210

196

Tow

nOs

unto

kun

BO, A

deuj

a A,

Not

tidge

V, B

adem

osi O

, Olu

mid

e A,

Ige

O, e

t al.

Prev

alen

ce o

f the

epi

leps

ies

in

Nige

rian

Afric

ans:

a c

omm

unity

bas

ed s

tudy

. Epi

leps

ia 1

987;

28:2

72-9

. doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1987

.tb

0421

8.x

PMID

:358

2291

Norw

ayVa

ga c

omm

unity

, sou

ther

n No

rway

1995

–199

712

0Ru

ral

Brod

tkor

b E,

Sja

asta

d O.

Epi

leps

y pr

eval

ence

by

indi

vidua

l int

ervie

w in

a N

orw

egia

n co

mm

unity

. Sei

zure

20

08;1

7:64

6-50

. doi

:10.

1016

/j.se

izure

.200

8.03

.005

PM

ID:1

8434

213

Norw

ayOp

plan

d co

unty

2001

353

Mixe

dSv

ends

en T,

Los

sius

M, N

akke

n KO

. Age

-spe

cific

pre

vale

nce

of e

pile

psy

in O

ppla

nd C

ount

y, No

rway

. Act

a Ne

urol

Sca

nd 2

007;

116:

307-

11. d

oi:1

0.11

11/j.

1600

-040

4.20

07.0

0909

.x P

MID

:179

2272

4Pa

kist

anSi

nd P

rovin

ce, M

irpur

Sak

ro19

8712

698

Rura

lAz

iz H,

Ali

S, F

ranc

es P

, Kha

n M

, Has

an K

. Epi

leps

y in

Pak

ista

n: a

pop

ulat

ion-

base

d ep

idem

iolo

gic

stud

y. Ep

ileps

ia 1

994;

35:9

50-8

. doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1994

.tb02

539.

x PM

ID:7

9251

66Pa

kist

anKa

rach

i19

8711

573

Urba

nAz

iz H,

Ali

S, F

ranc

es P

, Kha

n M

, Has

an K

. Epi

leps

y in

Pak

ista

n: a

pop

ulat

ion-

base

d ep

idem

iolo

gic

stud

y. Ep

ileps

ia 1

994;

35:9

50-8

. doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1994

.tb02

539.

x PM

ID:7

9251

66Pa

nam

aCh

angu

inol

a, B

ocas

del

Tor

o pr

ovin

ce19

8819

100

Smal

l tow

n,

Guay

mi I

ndia

nsGr

acia

F, d

eLao

S, C

astil

lo L

, Lar

reat

egui

M, A

rchb

old

C, B

rene

s M

, et a

l. Ep

idem

iolo

gy o

f epi

leps

y in

Gua

ymi I

ndia

ns fr

om B

ocas

del

Tor

o Pr

ovin

ce, R

epub

lic o

f Pan

ama.

Epi

leps

ia 1

990;

31:7

18-2

3.

doi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-115

7.19

90.tb

0551

2.x

PMID

:224

5802

Sene

gal

Piki

ne H

ealth

Dis

trict

, sub

urb

of

Daka

r20

0564

23Su

burb

anNd

oye

NF, S

ow A

D, D

iop

AG, S

esso

uma

B, S

ene-

Diou

f F, B

oiss

y L,

et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of e

pile

psy

its

treat

men

t gap

and

kno

wle

dge,

atti

tude

and

pra

ctic

e of

its

popu

latio

n in

sub

-urb

an S

eneg

al a

n IL

AE/IB

E/W

HO s

tudy

. Sei

zure

200

5;14

:106

-11.

doi

:10.

1016

/j.se

izure

.200

4.11

.003

PM

ID:1

5694

563

Sout

h Af

rica

Bush

buck

ridge

, Nor

ther

n Pr

ovin

ce20

0045

51Ru

ral,

child

ren

Chris

tians

on A

L, Z

wan

e M

E, M

anga

P, R

osen

E, V

ente

r A, K

rom

berg

JG.

Epi

leps

y in

rura

l Sou

th

Afric

an c

hild

ren

– pr

eval

ence

, ass

ocia

ted

disa

bilit

y an

d m

anag

emen

t. S

Afr M

ed J

200

0;90

:262

-6.

PMID

:108

5340

4So

uth

Afric

aNk

aluk

eni v

illage

2003

3888

Rura

lDe

l Rio

-Rom

ero

A, F

oyac

a-Si

bat H

, Iba

nez-

Vald

es L

, Veg

a-No

voa

E. P

reva

lenc

e of

Epi

leps

y an

d Ge

nera

l Kn

owle

dge

abou

t Neu

rocy

stic

erco

sis

at N

kalu

keni

Villa

ge, S

outh

Afri

ca. I

nter

net J

ourn

al o

f Neu

rolo

gy

2005

;3:1

-12.

Spai

nM

adrid

1984

956

Urba

nCr

uz G

utie

rrez-

del-O

lmo

M, S

choe

nber

g BS

, Por

tera

-San

chez

A. P

reva

lenc

e of

neu

rolo

gica

l dis

ease

s in

M

adrid

, Spa

in. N

euro

epid

emio

logy

198

9;8:

43-7

. doi

:10.

1159

/000

1101

64 P

MID

:264

3061

Togo

10 o

f 13

villa

ges

in N

adob

a,

Bata

mar

iba

dist

rict;

Bata

mar

iba

or

Tam

berm

a tri

be

2002

9210

0Ru

ral

Balo

gou

AA, G

runi

tzky

K, B

elo

M, S

anka

redj

a M

, Dja

gba

D, T

atag

an-A

gbi K

, et a

l. M

anag

men

t of E

pile

psy

Patie

nts

in B

atam

arib

a Di

stric

t, To

go. A

cta

Neur

ol S

cand

200

7;11

6:21

1-6.

doi

:10.

1111

/j.16

00-

0404

.200

7.00

871.

x PM

ID:1

7824

896

Togo

Tone

1995

170

78M

ixed

Balo

gou

AA, D

oh A

, Gru

nitz

ky K

. Affe

ctio

ns n

euro

logi

ques

et e

ndem

ie g

oitre

use:

ana

lyse

com

para

tive

de

deux

pro

vince

s du

Tog

o. B

ull S

oc P

atho

l Exo

t 200

1;94

:406

-10.

PM

ID:1

1889

943

Turk

eyCe

ntra

l Ana

tolia

(Elm

adag

tow

nshi

p an

d Ku

tludu

gun

villa

ge) a

nd

Dem

irlirb

ahce

dis

trict

of A

naka

ra

city

1987

5970

Mixe

dAz

iz H,

Guv

ener

A, A

khta

r SW

, Has

an K

Z. C

ompa

rativ

e ep

idem

iolo

gy o

f epi

leps

y in

Pak

ista

n an

d Tu

rkey

: pop

ulat

ion-

base

d st

udie

s us

ing

iden

tical

pro

toco

ls. E

pile

psia

199

7;38

:716

-22.

do

i:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1997

.tb01

242.

x PM

ID:9

1862

55

Turk

eySi

vas

1997

3376

Urba

nTo

palk

ara

K, A

kyuz

A, S

umer

H, B

ekar

D, T

opak

tas

S, D

ener

S, e

t al.

Siva

il M

erke

zinde

Tab

akal

i Orn

ekle

me

Yont

emi i

le G

erce

kles

tirile

n Ep

ileps

i Pre

vala

ns C

alis

mas

i. Ep

ileps

ia 1

999;

5:24

-9.

Turk

eyBu

rsa

city

cen

ter

2004

–200

518

50Ur

ban

Caliş

ir N,

Bor

a I,

Irgil

E, B

oz M

. Pre

vale

nce

of E

pile

psy

in B

ursa

City

Cen

ter,

an U

rban

Are

a of

Tur

key.

Epile

psia

200

6;47

:169

1-9.

doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

167.

2006

.006

35.x

PM

ID:1

7054

692

Turk

eySi

livri

1994

4945

Mixe

dKa

raag

aç N

, Yen

i SN,

Sen

ocak

M, B

ozlu

olca

y M

, Sav

run

FK, O

zdem

ir H,

et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of e

pile

psy

in

Siliv

ri, a

rura

l are

a of

Tur

key.

Epile

psia

199

9;40

:637

-42.

doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1999

.tb05

567.

x PM

ID:1

0386

534

Turk

ey47

villa

ges

in U

las

tow

n, S

ivas

city,

m

iddl

e An

atol

ia re

gion

of T

urke

y12

578

Mixe

dSa

hin

A, B

olay

ir E,

Sum

er H

, Tas

A, M

olla

oglu

M, D

ener

S. E

pide

mio

logi

c ev

alua

tion

of e

pile

ptic

and

no

nepi

lept

ic s

eizu

res

in S

ivas

regi

on o

f Mid

dle

Anat

olia

. Neu

rol P

sych

iatry

Bra

in R

es 2

004;

11:9

7-10

2.a P

reva

lenc

e ye

ar n

ot re

porte

d in

man

uscr

ipt,

ther

efor

e pu

blic

atio

n ye

ar

subs

titut

ed.

Page 11: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

D

Ana-Claire Meyer et al.Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147

Coun

try

Loca

tion

Year

No. o

f ca

ses

% tr

eatm

ent

gap

Setti

ng/

popu

latio

nSt

udy

Ugan

daKa

bend

e pa

rish,

Kab

arol

e di

stric

t19

9461

100

Rura

lKa

iser

C, K

ipp

W, A

saba

G, M

ugis

a C,

Kab

agam

be G

, Rat

ing

D, e

t al.

The

prev

alen

ce o

f epi

leps

y fo

llow

s th

e di

strib

utio

n of

onc

hoce

rcia

sis

in a

wes

t Uga

ndan

focu

s. B

ull W

orld

Hea

lth O

rgan

199

6;74

:361

-7.

PMID

:882

3957

Unite

d Ki

ngdo

m

of G

reat

Br

itain

and

No

rther

n Ire

land

Natio

nal c

hild

sur

vey

1988

124

2Na

tiona

l, ch

ildre

n on

lyKu

rtz Z

, Too

key

P, Ro

ss E

. Epi

leps

y in

you

ng p

eopl

e: 2

3 ye

ar fo

llow

up

of th

e Br

itish

nat

iona

l chi

ld

deve

lopm

ent s

tudy

. BM

J 19

98;3

16:3

39-4

2. P

MID

:948

7166

Unite

d Re

publ

ic o

f Ta

nzan

ia

Nach

ingw

ea d

istri

ct19

9942

95Ru

ral

Dent

W, H

elbo

k R,

Mat

uja

WB,

Sch

eune

man

n S,

Sch

mut

zhar

d E.

Pre

vale

nce

of a

ctive

epi

leps

y in

a

rura

l are

a in

Sou

th U

nite

d Re

publ

ic o

f Tan

zani

a: a

doo

r-to

-doo

r sur

vey.

Epile

psia

200

5;46

:196

3-9.

do

i:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

167.

2005

.003

38.x

PM

ID:1

6393

163

Unite

d Re

publ

ic o

f Ta

nzan

ia

Ulan

ga d

istri

ct19

89–1

990

185

100

Rura

lRw

iza H

, Kilo

nzo

G, H

aule

J, M

atuj

a W

, Mte

za I,

Mbe

na P

, et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

and

inci

denc

e of

ep

ileps

y in

Ula

nga,

a ru

ral T

anza

nian

dis

trict

: a c

omm

unity

-bas

ed s

tudy

. Epi

leps

ia 1

992;

33:1

051-

6.

doi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-115

7.19

92.tb

0175

8.x

PMID

:146

4263

Rw

iza H

. The

Muh

imbi

li ep

ileps

y pr

ojec

t, a

thre

e pr

onge

d ap

proa

ch. T

rop

Geog

r Med

199

4;46

Sup

pl;2

2-4.

Unite

d St

ates

of

Amer

ica

Was

hing

ton

Heig

hts,

Inw

ood,

New

Yor

k Ci

ty20

04–2

005

427

Urba

nKe

lvin

EA, H

esdo

rffer

DC,

Bag

iella

E, A

ndre

ws

H, P

edle

y TA

, Shi

h TT

, et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of s

elf-

repo

rted

epile

psy

in a

mul

tirac

ial a

nd m

ultie

thni

c co

mm

unity

in N

ew Y

ork

City.

Epi

leps

y Re

s 20

07;7

7:14

1-50

. do

i:10.

1016

/j.ep

leps

yres

.200

7.09

.012

PM

ID:1

8023

147

Unite

d St

ates

of

Amer

ica

Calif

orni

a20

0332

210

Mixe

dKo

bau

R, Z

ahra

n H,

Gra

nt D

, Thu

rman

DJ,

Pric

e PH

, Zac

k M

M. P

reva

lenc

e of

act

ive e

pile

psy

and

heal

th-

rela

ted

qual

ity o

f life

am

ong

adul

ts w

ith s

elf-

repo

rted

epile

psy

in C

alifo

rnia

: Cal

iforn

ia H

ealth

Inte

rvie

w

Surv

ey, 2

003.

Epi

leps

ia 2

007;

48:1

904-

13. d

oi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-116

7.20

07.0

1161

.x P

MID

:175

6559

1Un

ited

Stat

es o

f Am

eric

a

19 s

tate

s20

0591

97

Mixe

dKo

bau

R, Z

ahra

n H,

Thu

rman

DJ,

Zac

k M

M, H

enry

TR,

Sch

acht

er S

C, e

t al.

Epile

psy

surv

eilla

nce

amon

g ad

ults

— 1

9 St

ates

, Beh

avio

ural

Ris

k Fa

ctor

Sur

veilla

nce

Syst

em, 2

005.

MM

WR

Surv

eill

Sum

m

2008

;57:

1-20

. PM

ID:1

8685

554

Zam

bia

Chik

anka

ta c

atch

men

t are

a20

00–2

001

799

97Ru

ral

Birb

eck

GL, K

alic

hi E

M. E

pile

psy

prev

alen

ce in

rura

l Zam

bia:

a d

oor-

to-d

oor s

urve

y. Tr

op M

ed In

t Hea

lth

2004

;9:9

2-5.

doi

:10.

1046

/j.13

65-3

156.

2003

.011

49.x

PM

ID:1

4728

612

a Pre

vale

nce

year

not

repo

rted

in m

anus

crip

t, th

eref

ore

publ

icat

ion

year

su

bstit

uted

.

Page 12: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

E

Ana-Claire Meyer et al. Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147

Coun

try

Loca

tion

Year

No. o

f ca

ses

% tr

eatm

ent

gap

Setti

ng/

popu

latio

nSt

udy

Ugan

daKa

bend

e pa

rish,

Kab

arol

e di

stric

t19

9461

100

Rura

lKa

iser

C, K

ipp

W, A

saba

G, M

ugis

a C,

Kab

agam

be G

, Rat

ing

D, e

t al.

The

prev

alen

ce o

f epi

leps

y fo

llow

s th

e di

strib

utio

n of

onc

hoce

rcia

sis

in a

wes

t Uga

ndan

focu

s. B

ull W

orld

Hea

lth O

rgan

199

6;74

:361

-7.

PMID

:882

3957

Unite

d Ki

ngdo

m

of G

reat

Br

itain

and

No

rther

n Ire

land

Natio

nal c

hild

sur

vey

1988

124

2Na

tiona

l, ch

ildre

n on

lyKu

rtz Z

, Too

key

P, Ro

ss E

. Epi

leps

y in

you

ng p

eopl

e: 2

3 ye

ar fo

llow

up

of th

e Br

itish

nat

iona

l chi

ld

deve

lopm

ent s

tudy

. BM

J 19

98;3

16:3

39-4

2. P

MID

:948

7166

Unite

d Re

publ

ic o

f Ta

nzan

ia

Nach

ingw

ea d

istri

ct19

9942

95Ru

ral

Dent

W, H

elbo

k R,

Mat

uja

WB,

Sch

eune

man

n S,

Sch

mut

zhar

d E.

Pre

vale

nce

of a

ctive

epi

leps

y in

a

rura

l are

a in

Sou

th U

nite

d Re

publ

ic o

f Tan

zani

a: a

doo

r-to

-doo

r sur

vey.

Epile

psia

200

5;46

:196

3-9.

do

i:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

167.

2005

.003

38.x

PM

ID:1

6393

163

Unite

d Re

publ

ic o

f Ta

nzan

ia

Ulan

ga d

istri

ct19

89–1

990

185

100

Rura

lRw

iza H

, Kilo

nzo

G, H

aule

J, M

atuj

a W

, Mte

za I,

Mbe

na P

, et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

and

inci

denc

e of

ep

ileps

y in

Ula

nga,

a ru

ral T

anza

nian

dis

trict

: a c

omm

unity

-bas

ed s

tudy

. Epi

leps

ia 1

992;

33:1

051-

6.

doi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-115

7.19

92.tb

0175

8.x

PMID

:146

4263

Rw

iza H

. The

Muh

imbi

li ep

ileps

y pr

ojec

t, a

thre

e pr

onge

d ap

proa

ch. T

rop

Geog

r Med

199

4;46

Sup

pl;2

2-4.

Unite

d St

ates

of

Amer

ica

Was

hing

ton

Heig

hts,

Inw

ood,

New

Yor

k Ci

ty20

04–2

005

427

Urba

nKe

lvin

EA, H

esdo

rffer

DC,

Bag

iella

E, A

ndre

ws

H, P

edle

y TA

, Shi

h TT

, et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of s

elf-

repo

rted

epile

psy

in a

mul

tirac

ial a

nd m

ultie

thni

c co

mm

unity

in N

ew Y

ork

City.

Epi

leps

y Re

s 20

07;7

7:14

1-50

. do

i:10.

1016

/j.ep

leps

yres

.200

7.09

.012

PM

ID:1

8023

147

Unite

d St

ates

of

Amer

ica

Calif

orni

a20

0332

210

Mixe

dKo

bau

R, Z

ahra

n H,

Gra

nt D

, Thu

rman

DJ,

Pric

e PH

, Zac

k M

M. P

reva

lenc

e of

act

ive e

pile

psy

and

heal

th-

rela

ted

qual

ity o

f life

am

ong

adul

ts w

ith s

elf-

repo

rted

epile

psy

in C

alifo

rnia

: Cal

iforn

ia H

ealth

Inte

rvie

w

Surv

ey, 2

003.

Epi

leps

ia 2

007;

48:1

904-

13. d

oi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-116

7.20

07.0

1161

.x P

MID

:175

6559

1Un

ited

Stat

es o

f Am

eric

a

19 s

tate

s20

0591

97

Mixe

dKo

bau

R, Z

ahra

n H,

Thu

rman

DJ,

Zac

k M

M, H

enry

TR,

Sch

acht

er S

C, e

t al.

Epile

psy

surv

eilla

nce

amon

g ad

ults

— 1

9 St

ates

, Beh

avio

ural

Ris

k Fa

ctor

Sur

veilla

nce

Syst

em, 2

005.

MM

WR

Surv

eill

Sum

m

2008

;57:

1-20

. PM

ID:1

8685

554

Zam

bia

Chik

anka

ta c

atch

men

t are

a20

00–2

001

799

97Ru

ral

Birb

eck

GL, K

alic

hi E

M. E

pile

psy

prev

alen

ce in

rura

l Zam

bia:

a d

oor-

to-d

oor s

urve

y. Tr

op M

ed In

t Hea

lth

2004

;9:9

2-5.

doi

:10.

1046

/j.13

65-3

156.

2003

.011

49.x

PM

ID:1

4728

612

a Pre

vale

nce

year

not

repo

rted

in m

anus

crip

t, th

eref

ore

publ

icat

ion

year

su

bstit

uted

.

Tabl

e 2.

Stu

dies

use

d fo

r est

imat

ing

epile

psy

trea

tmen

t gap

bas

ed o

n th

e lif

etim

e pr

eval

ence

of e

pile

psy,

by c

ount

ry

Cou

ntry

Loca

tion

Year

No. o

f ca

ses

% tr

eatm

ent

gap

Setti

ng/

popu

latio

nAu

thor

Bang

lade

shAt

tem

pts

to b

e re

pres

enta

tive

of c

ount

ry;

3 ru

ral,

2 ur

ban

area

s19

92a

6786

Mixe

d,

child

ren

Durk

in M

S, D

avid

son

L, H

asan

K, H

asan

Z, H

ause

r W, K

han

N, e

t al.

Estim

ates

of t

he p

reva

lenc

e of

chi

ldho

od s

eizu

re d

isor

ders

in c

omm

uniti

es w

here

pro

fess

iona

l res

ourc

es a

re s

carc

e:

resu

lts fr

om B

angl

ades

h, J

amai

ca a

nd P

akis

tan.

Pae

diat

r Per

inat

Epi

dem

iol 1

992;

6:16

6-80

. do

i:10.

1111

/j.13

65-3

016.

1992

.tb00

758.

x PM

ID:1

5847

19Bo

livia

Cord

illera

Pro

vince

, San

ta C

ruz

Depa

rtmen

t19

9412

410

0Ru

ral

Nico

letti

A, R

eggi

o A,

Bar

tolo

ni A

, Fai

lla G

, Sofi

a V,

Bar

tale

si F,

et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of e

pile

psy

in ru

ral B

olivi

a:

a do

or-t

o-do

or s

urve

y. Ne

urol

ogy

1999

;53:

2064

-9. P

MID

:105

9978

2Ca

mer

oon

Bilo

mo,

wes

t ban

k of

Mba

m ri

ver i

n Ce

ntre

Pro

vince

of C

amer

oon

1998

9332

Rura

lNj

amns

hi A

K, S

ini V

, Djie

ntch

eu V

DP, O

ngol

o-Zo

go P

, Map

oure

Y, Y

epnj

io F

N, e

t al.

Risk

fact

ors

asso

ciat

ed

with

epi

leps

y in

a ru

ral a

rea

in C

amer

oon:

A p

relim

inar

y st

udy.

Afric

an J

Neu

rol S

ci 20

07;2

6:18

-26.

Chin

a4

tow

ns, 6

villa

ges

in D

ongn

ing

Coun

ty,

Mun

danj

iang

City

, Hei

long

jiang

Pro

vince

2000

8136

Rura

lM

a GY

, Li Z

Q, L

u S,

Wan

g LH

, Wen

SR,

Li G

Z, e

t al.

Surv

ey o

f etio

logi

cal f

acto

rs o

f epi

leps

y in

Mud

anjia

n ru

ral p

opul

atio

n by

rand

omly

clus

ter s

ampl

ing.

Chi

n J

Clin

Reh

abil

2004

;8:3

178-

9.

Tang

Y, L

i GZ,

Ma

GY, W

ang

DS. E

pide

mio

logi

cal s

urve

y of

epi

leps

y in

Don

gnin

g co

unty,

a ru

ral a

rea

in

Heilo

ngjia

ng P

rovin

ce o

f Chi

na. C

hin

J Cl

in R

ehab

il 20

04;8

:770

-1.

Colo

mbi

aM

edel

lin19

8377

73Ur

ban

Zulo

aga

L, S

oto

C, J

aram

illo D

, Mor

a O,

Bet

ancu

r C, L

ondo

no R

. [Pr

eval

ence

of e

pile

psy

in M

edel

lin,

Colo

mbi

a, 1

983]

. Bol

Ofic

ina

Sani

t Pan

am 1

988;

104:

331-

44. P

MID

:297

1372

Fran

ceHa

ute-

Vien

ne, L

imou

sin

regi

on19

86–8

720

55M

ixed

Mun

oz M

, Bou

tros-

Toni

F, P

reux

PM

, Cha

rtier

JP,

Ndza

nga

E, B

oa F,

et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of n

euro

logi

cal

diso

rder

s in

Hau

te-V

ienn

e de

partm

ent (

Lim

ousi

n re

gion

-Fra

nce)

. Neu

roep

idem

iolo

gy 1

995;

14:1

93-8

. do

i:10.

1159

/000

1097

96 P

MID

:764

3954

Guat

emal

aSm

all r

ural

villa

ge19

96a

1631

Rura

lM

endi

zaba

l JE,

Sal

guer

o LF

. Pre

vale

nce

of e

pile

psy

in a

rura

l com

mun

ity o

f Gua

tem

ala.

Epi

leps

ia

1996

;37:

373-

6. d

oi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-115

7.19

96.tb

0057

4.x

PMID

:860

3643

Indi

aPH

C ca

chem

ent a

rea,

Har

yana

, Nor

th

Indi

a19

92–4

126

53Ru

ral

Sing

h A,

Kau

r A. E

pile

psy

in ru

ral H

arya

na –

pre

vale

nce

and

treat

men

t see

king

beh

avio

ur. J

Indi

an M

ed

Asso

c 19

97;9

5:37

-9, 4

7. P

MID

:935

7239

Italy

Ripo

sto

(Cat

ania

Pro

vince

); Sa

nta

Tere

sa

di R

iva (M

essi

na P

rovin

ce);

Terra

sini

(P

aler

mo

Prov

ince

) Sic

ily

1987

111

39Se

mi-u

rban

Rocc

a W

A, S

avet

tieri

G, A

nder

son

DW, M

eneg

hini

F, G

rigol

etto

F, M

orga

nte

L, e

t al.

Door

-to-

door

pr

eval

ence

sur

vey

of e

pile

psy

in th

ree

Sici

lian

mun

icip

aliti

es. N

euro

epid

emio

logy

200

1;20

:237

-41.

do

i:10.

1159

/000

0547

96 P

MID

:116

8489

9Ja

mai

caM

ay P

en a

nd L

ione

l Tow

n, C

lare

ndon

pa

rish

1992

a32

62Ru

ral,

child

ren

Durk

in M

S, D

avid

son

L, H

asan

K, H

asan

Z, H

ause

r W, K

han

N, e

t al.

Estim

ates

of t

he p

reva

lenc

e of

chi

ldho

od s

eizu

re d

isor

ders

in c

omm

uniti

es w

here

pro

fess

iona

l res

ourc

es a

re s

carc

e:

resu

lts fr

om B

angl

ades

h, J

amai

ca a

nd P

akis

tan.

Pae

diat

r Per

inat

Epi

dem

iol 1

992;

6:16

6-80

. do

i:10.

1111

/j.13

65-3

016.

1992

.tb00

758.

x PM

ID:1

5847

19Ne

ther

land

sEl

derly

, Rot

terd

am S

tudy

1991

–199

385

52Su

burb

de la

Cou

rt A,

Bre

tele

r MM

, Mei

nard

i H, H

ause

r WA,

Hof

man

A. P

reva

lenc

e of

epi

leps

y in

the

elde

rly: t

he

Rotte

rdam

Stu

dy. E

pile

psia

199

6;37

:141

-7. d

oi:1

0.11

11/j.

1528

-115

7.19

96.tb

0000

5.x

PMID

:863

5424

Paki

stan

Grea

ter K

arac

hi; 4

3 ur

ban

and

16 ru

ral

1992

a99

62M

ixed,

ch

ildre

nDu

rkin

MS,

Dav

idso

n L,

Has

an K

, Has

an Z

, Hau

ser W

, Kha

n N,

et a

l. Es

timat

es o

f the

pre

vale

nce

of c

hild

hood

sei

zure

dis

orde

rs in

com

mun

ities

whe

re p

rofe

ssio

nal r

esou

rces

are

sca

rce:

re

sults

from

Ban

glad

esh,

Jam

aica

and

Pak

ista

n. P

aedi

atr P

erin

at E

pide

mio

l 199

2;6:

166-

80.

doi:1

0.11

11/j.

1365

-301

6.19

92.tb

0075

8.x

PMID

:158

4719

Page 13: Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gap: a ...The epilepsy treatment gap, defined as the proportion of people with epilepsy who require treatment but do not receive it, has

F

Ana-Claire Meyer et al.Global disparities in the epilepsy treatment gapResearch

Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:260–266 | doi:10.2471/BLT.09.064147

Cou

ntry

Loca

tion

Year

No. o

f ca

ses

% tr

eatm

ent

gap

Setti

ng/

popu

latio

nAu

thor

Sing

apor

eNa

tiona

l19

9589

6Na

tiona

l; 18

yea

r old

m

enKu

n LN

, Lin

g LW

, Wah

YW

, Lia

n TT

. Epi

dem

iolo

gic

stud

y of

epi

leps

y in

you

ng S

inga

pore

an m

en. E

pile

psia

19

99;4

0:13

84-7

. doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1999

.tb02

009.

x PM

ID:1

0528

933

Spai

nGu

illena

mun

icip

ality

1981

4018

Mixe

d,

child

ren

Niet

o Ba

rrera

M. N

euro

epid

emio

logy

of e

pile

psy.

An E

sp P

edia

tr 19

88;2

9:59

-63.

PM

ID:3

2502

97Sr

i Lan

ka21

8 vil

lage

s be

long

ing

to 1

2 Gr

amod

aya

Cent

res

1983

690

49M

ixed

Sena

naya

ke N

. Epi

leps

y co

ntro

l in

a de

velo

ping

cou

ntry

-the

cha

lleng

e of

tom

orro

w. C

eylo

n M

ed J

19

87;3

2:18

1-99

. PM

ID:3

5064

50Un

ited

Stat

es o

f Am

eric

aCo

piah

Cou

nty

1978

246

40Ru

ral

Haer

er A

F, An

ders

on D

, Sch

oenb

erg

B. P

reva

lenc

e an

d cl

inic

al fe

atur

es o

f epi

leps

y in

a b

iraci

al U

nite

d St

ates

pop

ulat

ion.

Epi

leps

ia 1

986;

27:6

6-75

. doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

157.

1986

.tb03

503.

x PM

ID:3

9488

20Un

ited

Stat

es o

f Am

eric

aUS

pop

ulat

ion

2004

123

50M

ixed

Koba

u R,

Gilli

am F,

Thu

rman

DJ.

Pre

vale

nce

of s

elf-

repo

rted

epile

psy

or s

eizu

re d

isor

der a

nd it

s as

soci

atio

ns w

ith s

elf-

repo

rted

depr

essi

on a

nd a

nxie

ty: r

esul

ts fr

om th

e 20

04. H

ealth

Sty

les

Surv

ey

Epile

psia

200

6;47

:191

5-21

. doi

:10.

1111

/j.15

28-1

167.

2006

.006

12.x

Unite

d St

ates

of

Amer

ica

Sout

h Ca

rolin

a20

03–5

379

50M

ixed

Prev

alen

ce o

f epi

leps

y an

d he

alth

-rel

ated

qua

lity

of li

fe a

nd d

isab

ility

amon

g ad

ults

with

epi

leps

y –

Sout

h Ca

rolin

a, 2

003

and

2004

. MM

WR

Mor

b M

orta

l Wkly

Rep

200

5;54

:108

0-2.

PM

ID:1

6251

865

Ferg

uson

PL,

Chi

pric

h J,

Sm

ith G

, Don

g B,

Wan

nam

aker

BB,

Kob

au R

, et a

l. Pr

eval

ence

of s

elf-

repo

rted

epile

psy,

heal

th c

are

acce

ss, a

nd h

ealth

beh

avio

urs

amon

g ad

ults

in S

outh

Car

olin

a. E

pile

psy

Beha

v 20

08;1

3:52

9-34

. doi

:10.

1016

/j.ye

beh.

2008

.05.

005

PMID

:185

8596

2a P

reva

lenc

e ye

ar n

ot re

porte

d in

man

uscr

ipt,

ther

efor

e pu

blic

atio

n ye

ar s

ubst

itute

d.