An epidemiological study of epilepsy in Hong Kong SAR, China
BACKGROUND
Several specialist clinic-based epidemiology studies suggested low prevalence in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China. Population-based epidemiological data for epilepsy is not available. We performed the first population-based epidemiological survey of epilepsy in this locality.


METHOD
We conducted a territory-wide survey. We randomly selected 9547 households from fixed-line telephone directory. We successfully surveyed 17,783 persons of 5178 households by telephone interview. All positive respondents 685 (3.85%) were invited for clinical validation. 127 subjects were validated by board-certified neurologists.


RESULTS
Seizure disorders were confirmed in 28 subjects. The crude prevalence of active epilepsy and seizure disorder were estimated to be 3.94/1000 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.10-6.74/1000) and 8.49/1000 (95% CI: 5.64-12.27/1000), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of epilepsy in HKSAR is more common than previously thought. The data retrieved is useful for planning and allocation of health resources for patients with seizure disorders.