Epilepsy and epileptic seizures are common brain disorders in the elderly and are associated with increased mortality that may be ascribed to the underlying disease or epilepsy-related causes.
Objective
To describe mortality predictors of epilepsy and epileptic seizures in elderly inpatients.
Method
Retrospective analysis was performed on hospitalized elderly who had epilepsy or epileptic seizures, from January 2009 to December 2010. One hundred and twenty patients were enrolled.
Results
The most common etiology was ischemic stroke (37%), followed by neoplasias (13%), hemorrhagic stroke (12%), dementias (11.4%) and metabolic disturbances (5.5%). In a univariate analysis, disease duration (p = 0.04), status epilepticus (p < 0.001) and metabolic etiology (p = 0.005) were associated with mortality. However after adjustment by logistic regression, only status epilepticus remained an independent predictor of death (odds ratio = 13; 95%CI = 2.3 to 72; p = 0.004).
Conclusion
In this study status epilepticus was an independent risk factor for death during hospitalization.
elderly; epilepsy; epileptic seizures; mortality; status epilepticus
