ArticleBMC public health2019
Educational and health outcomes of children and adolescents receiving antiepileptic medication: Scotland-wide record linkage study of 766 244 schoolchildren.
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- From illness to inactivity: Exploring the influence of physical diseases on youth Not in Education, Employment, or Training status in Europe: A systematic literature review.Journal of adolescence · 2024Pooled it
- Mortality Risk Between Ages 11 and 22 Years Among Young People With Neurodisability in England: A National Cohort Study Using Linked Health and Education Data.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2026Article
- Educational attainment among primary school children with neurodisability: a population-based cohort study using linked education and health data from England.Archives of disease in childhood · 2026Article
- Metabolomic Profiling of Plasma in Children with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: The Effect of the Ketogenic Diet on Energy and Amino Acid Pathways.Nutrients · 2026Article
- "I'm lonely": An underrecognized marker of silent suffering in PWE in underresourced settings?Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2026Article
- Phenotyping Neurodisability in Hospital Records in England: A National Birth Cohort Using Linked Administrative Data.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- Academic competence and special educational needs as outcomes of early onset epilepsy: A population-based prospective follow-up study.Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- Academic performance of pediatric epileptic patients at King Abdulaziz University Hospital.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2024Article
- Planned and unplanned hospital admissions and health-related school absence rates in children with neurodisability: Protocol for a population-based study using linked education and hospital data from England.NIHR open research · 2024Article
- Exposome Determinants of Quality of Life in Adults Over 50: Personality Traits, Childhood Conditions, and Long-Term Unemployment in SHARELIFE Retrospective Panel.Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
- Article
- Educational achievement among children with a disability: do parental resources compensate for disadvantage?SSM - population health · 2023Article
- School lives of adolescent school students living with chronic physical health conditions: a qualitative evidence synthesis.Archives of disease in childhood · 2023Article
- Educational outcomes in childhood cancer survivors: A Scotland-wide record-linkage study of 766,217 schoolchildren.PloS one · 2023Article
- Complex early childhood experiences: Characteristics of Northern Territory children across health, education and child protection data.PloS one · 2023Article
- Educational and health outcomes of schoolchildren in local authority care in Scotland: A retrospective record linkage study.PLoS medicine · 2021Article
- Schoolteacher's knowledge, attitudes, and practice toward student with epilepsy in Taif, Saudi Arabia: Cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2021Article
- Neurodevelopmental multimorbidity and educational outcomes of Scottish schoolchildren: A population-based record linkage cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChildhood epilepsy can adversely affect education and employment in addition to health. Previous studies are small or highly selective producing conflicting results. This retrospective cohort study aims to compare educational and health outcomes of children receiving antiepileptic medication versus peers.
methodsRecord linkage of Scotland-wide databases covering dispensed prescriptions, acute and psychiatric hospitalisations, maternity records, deaths, annual pupil census, school absences/exclusions, special educational needs, school examinations, and (un)employment provided data on 766,244 children attending Scottish schools between 2009 and 2013. Outcomes were adjusted for sociodemographic and maternity confounders and comorbid conditions.
resultsCompared with peers, children on antiepileptic medication were more likely to experience school absence (Incidence Rate Ratio [IRR] 1.43, 95% CI: 1.38, 1.48), special educational needs (Odds ratio [OR] 9.60, 95% CI: 9.02, 10.23), achieve the lowest level of attainment (OR 3.43, 95% CI: 2.74, 4.29) be unemployed (OR 1.82, 95% CI: 1.60, 2.07), be admitted to hospital (Hazard Ratio [HR] 3.56, 95% CI: 3.42, 3.70), and die (HR 22.02, 95% CI: 17.00, 28.53). Absenteeism partly explained poorer attainment and higher unemployment. Girls and younger children on antiepileptic medication had higher risk of poor outcomes.
conclusionsChildren on antiepileptic medication fare worse than peers across educational and health outcomes. In order to reduce school absenteeism and mitigate its effects, children with epilepsy should receive integrated care from a multidisciplinary team that spans education and healthcare.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.