Burden of suspected epileptic seizures on emergency services: A population-based study

Leena Kämppi; Tuukka Puolakka; Jaakko Ritvanen; Kati Tuppurainen; Jari Päkkilä; Markku Kuisma; Jukka Peltola

doi:10.1111/ene.15800

Burden of suspected epileptic seizures on emergency services: A population-based study

Eur J Neurol. 2023 Aug;30(8):2197-2205. doi: 10.1111/ene.15800. Epub 2023 Apr 7.

Authors

Leena Kämppi¹, Tuukka Puolakka^{2

3}, Jaakko Ritvanen⁴, Kati Tuppurainen⁴, Jari Päkkilä⁵, Markku Kuisma², Jukka Peltola⁶

Affiliations

¹ Epilepsia Helsinki, European Reference Network EpiCARE, Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
² Department of Emergency Medicine and Services, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
³ Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁵ Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Tampere University Hospital and Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.

PMID: 36974739
DOI: 10.1111/ene.15800

Abstract

Background and purpose: Patients with acute epileptic seizures form a large patient group in emergency neurology. This study aims to determine the burden caused by suspected epileptic seizures at different steps in emergency care.

Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional, population-based (>1,000,000 inhabitants), 4-year (2015-2018) study was conducted in an urban setting with a single dispatch centre, a university hospital-affiliated emergency medical service (EMS), and five emergency departments (EDs). The study covered all adult (≥16 years old) emergency neurology patients receiving medical attention due to suspected epileptic seizures from the EMS and EDs and during hospital admissions in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Results: Epileptic seizures were suspected in 14,364 EMS calls, corresponding to 3.3% of all EMS calls during the study period. 9,112 (63.4%) cases were transported to hospital due to suspected epileptic seizures, and 3368 (23.4%) were discharged on the scene. 6969 individual patients had 11,493 seizure-related ED visits, accounting for 3.1% of neurology- and internal medicine-related ED visits and 4607 hospital admissions were needed with 3 days' median length of stay (IQR=4, Range 1-138). Male predominance was noticeable at all stages (EMS 64.7%, EDs 60.1%, hospital admissions 56.2%). The overall incidence was 333/100,000 inhabitants/year for seizure-related EMS calls, 266/100,000 inhabitants/year for ED visits and 107/100,000 inhabitants/year for hospital admissions. Total estimated costs were 6.8 million €/year, corresponding to 0.5% of all specialized healthcare costs in the study area.

Conclusions: Patients with suspected epileptic seizures cause a significant burden on the health care system. Present-day epidemiological data are paramount when planning resource allocation in emergency services.

Keywords: emergency department; emergency medical services; epilepsy; hospital emergency service; incidence; intensive care unit.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency Medical Services*
Emergency Service, Hospital
Epilepsy* / diagnosis
Epilepsy* / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Retrospective Studies
Seizures / diagnosis
Seizures / epidemiology