Authors: Christopher L.L. Morgan¹; Scot Buchan²; Michael P. Kerr¹

Source: British Journal of General Practice, Volume 54, Number 507, October 2004 , pp. 781-783(3)

Publisher: Royal College of General Practitioners

Abstract:

We describe the incidence of newly treated epilepsy in primary care and patterns of antiepileptic drug prescription, numbers of patients who remain on initial therapy and health service utilisation. Data was collected from 100 general practices that subscribed to the Doctors Independent Network (DIN-LINK) project. Over the study period 1531 patients were identified, equating to an annual incidence rate of 36.3 per 100 000 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 32.1 to 40.8). Of these patients, 1465 (95.7%) were started on antiepileptic drugs. Overall, 1154 (78.8%) patients remained on the original monotherapy at the 12-month stage. Primary care consultations, secondary care referrals and emergency admissions were all increased for those whose treatment was changed either to polytherapy or an alternative monotherapy.

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Keywords: ANTIEPILEPTIC AGENTS; DATA COLLECTION; DRUG THERAPY; EPILEPSY

Document Type: Short communication

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff 2: Managing director, Strategen Limited, Basingstoke, Hampshire

Publication date: 2004-10-01

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