Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, and can occur in any age group, from infants to the elderly.Although the prevalence (percentage of the number of people with the disease at a certain point in time) and the incidence rate (degree of new outbreaks of the disease within a certain period of time) in developed countries have been reported, the prevalence of epilepsy in Japan is Until now, there have been few reports of nationwide epidemiological studies on incidence.

　This time, the research group analyzed medical insurance claim data (January 9,864,278 to December 2012) of 1 members of health insurance associations nationwide, and clarified the prevalence and incidence of epilepsy by age, gender, and calendar year. bottom.

　As a result, the prevalence of epilepsy is 1,000 per 6.0 population (6.1 men, 5.8 women, 2019), which is higher than the reported prevalence rate in developed countries (1,000-4 people per 8 population). XNUMX) was at the same level.

　The incidence of epilepsy was 10 per 72.1 person-years (new epilepsy patients/total observed person-years [2012–2019] × 10).It was about 10 times higher than the epilepsy incidence rate reported so far in developed countries (about 1 to 45 per 49 people per year).By age group, 1.5 year old and 0-70 year olds were markedly higher than other age groups, forming a U-shaped curve.This is the first report to calculate the incidence of epilepsy in Japan.

　It is important to understand the scale of patients (prevalence and incidence) when considering health care strategies. It is said that the epidemiological situation of epilepsy has been clarified.

Paper information:[Journal of Epidemiology] Incidence and prevalence of epilepsy in Japan: a retrospective analysis of insurance claims data of 9,864,278 insured persons