INCLEN Diagnostic Tool for Epilepsy (INDT-EPI) for primary care physicians: development and validation

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Neurology
• Diagnostic Accuracy
• Epilepsy Research

Background:

• Epilepsy diagnosis in children requires specialized expertise.
• A validated, accessible screening tool is needed for early detection.
• The INCLEN Diagnostic Tool for Epilepsy (INDT-EPI) was developed to address this need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the INDT-EPI.
• To assess the tool's performance when administered by primary care physicians.
• To compare the INDT-EPI results against expert pediatric neurologist evaluations.

Main Methods:

• A diagnostic accuracy study was conducted in tertiary care pediatric centers in India.
• Children aged 2-9 years were systematically sampled.
• Evaluations were performed by primary care physicians using the INDT-EPI and by pediatric neurologists (gold standard) in a blinded manner.

Main Results:

• The study included 240 children with epilepsy and 274 without.
• The INDT-EPI demonstrated a sensitivity of 85.8% and specificity of 95.3%.
• Positive and negative predictive values were 94.0% and 88.5%, respectively, with likelihood ratios of 18.25 and 0.15.

Conclusions:

• The INDT-EPI exhibits high validity for identifying children with epilepsy.
• The tool is effective when utilized by primary care physicians.
• This supports the INDT-EPI's role in improving pediatric epilepsy diagnosis.