Epidemiology of epilepsy among school populations in Khartoum Province, Sudan

This paper describes selected findings of a survey of epilepsy among the entire school population in Khartoum Province, Sudan. An operational clinical definition to identify pupils with major seizure attacks was used. Cases were detected in schools, hospitals and doctors' private clinics. One hundred and eighty-eight epileptic children were identified. Nine were excluded because of incomplete information. A prevalence rate of epilepsy of 0.9 per 1000 was estimated. This was found to be lower than other rates for European and American school children, reported in the literature. Possible reasons for this were discussed. Four-fifths of the epileptic pupils were on anticonvulsants, but half of these seemed not to be complying with the treatment. Many were having traditional treatment as well. More than a quarter of primary school teachers who were asked about their attitude towards epileptic pupils showed rejection to these children.