Wie viele Patienten mit Epilepsie gibt es in Deutschland, und wer behandelt sie?
Pfäfflin M, Stefan H, May TW (2020)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2020
Journal
DOI: 10.1007/s10309-020-00334-8
Abstract
Background: Epidemiological studies on epilepsy are still rare in Germany. In 1995, the first EPIDEG study (EPIDemiology of Epilepsies in Germany) was carried out in order to estimate the prevalence of treated patients with epilepsy and to assess the situation with respect to care. Objective: In 2010, the EPIDEG study was repeated to investigate whether the prevalence of epilepsy and the care situation had changed. Methods: Based on a randomly selected sample, 3991 doctors of various disciplines received a short questionnaire that assessed the number of treated patients with epilepsy, referred patients, patients with seizures and newly diagnosed epilepsy in the previous year. The responder rate was 31.3%. Explorative and descriptive methods were used for statistical analyses. Results: In 2010, the estimated prevalence of treated patients with epilepsy was 5.5 per 1000, which was higher than in 1995 with 4.7 per 1000; however, the rate of seizure-free (>1 year) patients referred to or treated by neurologists (70.3% vs. 60.1%) or by general practitioners (71.3% vs. 60.1%) was markedly higher than in 1995, in contrast to an unchanged rate in patients treated by pediatricians (62.1% vs. 62.3%). The estimated number of patients referred to or treated by neurologists increased significantly from 193,000 to 266,000, and meanwhile a large number of children with epilepsy are treated by pediatric neurologists. In East Germany (former German Democratic Republic), the number of epilepsy patients per neurologist was still higher than in West Gemany reflecting a lower density of neurologists in East Germany. The same applies to pediatric neurologists. Conclusion: The number of epilepsy patients in Germany has increased, whereby an aging population has probably contributed to this trend. The simultaneously increased rate of seizure-free patients indicates an improvement in treatment and care.
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APA:
Pfäfflin, M., Stefan, H., & May, T.W. (2020). Wie viele Patienten mit Epilepsie gibt es in Deutschland, und wer behandelt sie? Zeitschrift für Epileptologie. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10309-020-00334-8
MLA:
Pfäfflin, Margarete, Hermann Stefan, and Theodor W. May. "Wie viele Patienten mit Epilepsie gibt es in Deutschland, und wer behandelt sie?" Zeitschrift für Epileptologie (2020).
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