Poor Seizure Control Among Children Attending a Tertiary Hospital in South Western Uganda – A Retrospective Study

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flow chart of the study.

Table 1 Characteristics of the Study Participants

Characteristic (N=112)	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Age categories in years
<5	37	33.0
5–9	43	38.4
10–17	32	28.6
Tribe
Ankole	87	77.7
Ganda	9	8.0
Bakiga	8	7.1
Others	8	7.1
Religion
Catholic	34	30.4
Protestant	60	53.6
Moslem	7	6.3
Pentecostals	11	9.8
History suggestive of birth asphyxia
No	92	82.1
Yes	14	12.5
Unknown	6	5.4
History of status epilepticus
No	66	58.9
Yes	46	41.1
History of head injury
No	109	97.3
Yes	3	2.7
Associated comorbidities
No	67	59.8
Single	28	25.0
Multiple	17	15.2
ASMs used
Sodium valproate	48	42.9
Phenobarbitone	29	24.9
Carbamazepine	32	28.6
Phenytoin	7	6.3
Others	6	5.4
Baseline seizure frequency
Daily	71	63.4
Weekly	12	10.7
Monthly	24	21.4
Annually	10	4.5

Figure 2 Frequency of comorbidities among children with epilepsy at Mbarara regional referral hospital.

Figure 3 Classification of seizure types among children attending the epilepsy clinic at MRRH over a six-month period.

Table 2 Results of Bivariate Analysis for Factors Associated with Poor Seizure Control

Variable	Good Seizure Control	Poor Seizure Control	Unadjusted Odds Ratio	P-value
	n (%)	n (%)	(95% CI)
Basic seizure type
Focal onset	10 (38.5)	16 (61.5)	1.1 (0.4–2.6)	0.888
Generalized onset	34 (40.0)	51 (60.0)	1.0
Age groups
<5 y	17 (46.0)	20 (54.1)	1.0	0.133
5–9 y	19 (45.2)	23 (54.8)	1.0
10–17 y	8 (25.0)	24 (75.0)	2.5 (0.9–7.1)
Sex
Male	26 (43.3)	34 (56.7)	1.0	0.388
Female	18 (35.3)	33 (64.7)	1.4 (0.7–3.0)
Duration in care
<1 y	7 (30.4)	16 (69.6)	1.0	0.311
1 y and above	37 (42.1)	51 (57.9)	0.6 (0.2–1.6)
Age at seizure onset
<1 y	10 (38.5)	16 (61.5)	0.9 (0.2–3.9)	0.843
1–4 y	25 (43.1)	33 (56.9)	0.8 (0.2–2.9)
5–9 y	5 (31.3)	11 (68.8)	1.3 (0.2–6.4)
10–15 y	4 (39.4)	7 (63.6)	1.0
Missed any dose
No	18 (30.5)	41 (69.5)	1.0	0.080
Yes	23 (46.9)	26 (53.1)	0.5 (0.2–1.1)
Missed scheduled clinic visit
No	15 (44.1)	19 (55.9)	1.0	0.555
Yes	29 (38.2)	47 (61.8)	1.3 (0.6–2.9)
History of febrile seizure
No	31 (34.1)	60 (65.9)	1.0	0.034
Yes	10 (62.5)	6 (37.5)	0.3 (0.1–0.9)
Unknown	3 (75.0)	1 (25.0)	0.2 (0.0–1.7)
History of neonatal jaundice
No	38 (40.0)	57 (60.0)	1.0	0.583
Yes	2 (25.0)	6 (75.0)	2.0 (0.4–10.4)
Unknown	4 (50.0)	4 (50.0)	0.7 (0.2–2.8)
History of CNS infection
No	32 (38.6)	51 (61.5)	1.0	0.684
Yes	5 (35.7)	9 (64.3)	1.1 (0.8–3.7)
Unknown	7 (50.0)	7 (50.0)	0.6 (0.2–2.0)
History suggestive of birth asphyxia
No	39 (42.9)	52 (57.1)	1.0	0.015
Yes	1 (7.1)	13 (92.9)	9.7 (1.2–77.7)
Unknown	4 (66.7)	2 (33.3)	0.3 (0.1–2.2)
Presence of comorbidity
No	33 (50.0)	33 (50.0)	1.0	0.023
Single	6 (21.4)	22 (78.6)	3.7 (1.3–10.2)
Multiple	5 (29.4)	12 (70.6)	2.4 (0.8–7.6)

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; CNS, central nervous system.

Table 3 Results of Multivariate Logistic Analysis for Factors Associated with Poor Seizure Control

Variable	Adjusted Odds Ratio (95% CI)	P-value
Basic seizure type
Focal onset	1.2 (0.4–3.7)	0.776
Generalized onset	1.0
Sex
Male	1.0
Female	1.2 (0.5–3.0)	0.654
Age groups
<5 y	1.0
5–9 y	2.3 (0.7–7.3)	0.166
10–17 y	6.8 (1.8–26.6)	0.006
Age at seizure onset
<1 y	4.74 (0.37–59.93)	0.229
1–4 y	3.91 (0.54–28.27)	0.176
5–9 y	3.68 (0.40–34.30)	0.252
10–15 y	1.0
History suggestive of birth asphyxia
No	1.0
Yes	17.8 (1.8–176.8)	0.014
Unknown	0.3 (0.0–1.8)	0.175
Presence of comorbidity
No	1.0
Single	3.2 (1.0–9.9)	0.048
Multiple	2.7 (0.6–12.8)	0.200

Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.