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Risk factors for a first febrile convulsion in children: a population study in southern Taiwan
C C Huang1, S T Wang, Y C Chang
1Department of Pediatrics, National Cheng Kung University Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Insights
A family history of febrile convulsions and frequent fever episodes are key predictors of first-time febrile seizures in young children. These findings aid in identifying children at higher risk for febrile convulsions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Epidemiology
- Genetics
Background:
- Febrile convulsions are common in early childhood.
- Identifying risk factors is crucial for prevention and management.
- Population-based studies provide valuable insights into disease etiology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine risk factors for a first febrile convulsion in 3-year-old children.
- Utilizing a matched case-control population study design.
Main Methods:
- Enrolled 11,714 neonatal survivors.
- Conducted telephone surveys and home visit interviews at age 3.
- Matched 218 febrile convulsion cases with controls by age, gender, and district.
Main Results:
- Cases had more frequent febrile episodes (≥4/year) (33.0% vs. 22.5%).
- Cases showed higher rates of developmental delay (3.7% vs. 0.4%) and sibling febrile convulsions (12% vs. 0.4%).
- Sibling history and number of febrile episodes were significant independent predictors.
Conclusions:
- Sibling history of febrile convulsions is a strong predictor.
- Frequent febrile episodes are a significant risk factor.
- These factors are crucial for predicting febrile convulsions in a population sample.
Purpose:
To identify risk factors for a first febrile convulsion among 3-year-old children by a matched case-control population study.
Methods:
All 11,714 neonatal survivors born in Tainan City between October 1989 and September 1991 were enrolled. At age 3, 10,460 children were available for telephone survey for febrile convulsions, and were confirmed by home visit interviews. Those without history of seizure were randomly matched to each febrile convulsion case by age, gender, and residence district.
Results:
Two hundred fifty six children had febrile convulsions, and 218 of them and their matched controls were available for analysis. The febrile convulsion cases had significantly more febrile episodes (four or more) per year (33.0 vs. 22.5%; p = 0.021), and cases had a higher percentage of developmental delay (3.7 vs. 0.4%; p = 0.046) and a higher percentage of febrile convulsions in their siblings (12 vs. 0.4%; p = 0.011) than controls. The other sociodemographic, environmental, and biologic variables showed no differences between cases and controls. Step-wise logistic regression showed a highly significant independent association between febrile convulsions and history of febrile convulsions in the siblings, and a moderate one between febrile convulsions and the number of febrile episodes per year.
Conclusions:
The presence of febrile convulsions in the siblings and the number of fever episodes per year were the independent and significant predictors of febrile convulsion for an individual case in our population-based sample.