PREVALENCE OF EPILEPSY IN KELIBIA, TUNISIA

A door-to-door survey was made in Kelibia, Tunisia to determine the prevalence of major neurologic disorders, including epilepsy. The survey was made according to a World Health Organization (WHO) protocol (1981). All individuals responding positively to the screening tool were examined by a neurologic team using well-defined diagnostic criteria. One hundred forty-one individuals, alive on prevalence day (July 1, 1985), were identified as having active epilepsy, giving a crude prevalence ratio of 4.04 per 1,000 and an age-adjusted (on WHO population) prevalence ratio of 3.64 per 1,000. Prevalence ratios increase with age (in children and young adults with the highest prevalence ratio at similar to-20 years) and decrease after 40 years. The most frequently identified type was generalized convulsive seizures (93%). The most frequently associated conditions were cerebral palsy and mental retardation.