ArticleBMJ open2020
Why are epilepsy mortality rates rising in the United States? A population-based multiple cause-of-death study.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- An Online Epilepsy Self-Management Tool for Patients With Epilepsy: A Formative Usability Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- C-X-C motif chemokine ligands (CXCL1/CXCL9) in inflammatory pathways underlying epilepsy-related ventricular remodeling: a mendelian randomization study.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2026Article
- Mesial temporal shape asymmetry as a neuro-imaging correlate of epilepsy in mild cognitive impairment and dementia.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Global, regional and national burden of epilepsy in children and adolescents, 1990-2021: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.European journal of clinical investigation · 2026Article
- Long-term survival after adult epilepsy surgery: Mortality and predictors in a large cohort.Epilepsia · 2025Article
- Article
- Alzheimer's disease-associated genotypes differentially influence chronic evoked seizure outcomes and antiseizure medicine efficacy in aged mice.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2025Article
- Risk Factors Associated With Late-Onset Epilepsy in Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment.JAMA neurology · 2025Article
- Community-Sourced Reporting of Mortalities in Angelman Syndrome (1979-2022).American journal of medical genetics. Part A · 2025Article
- Management recommendations to reduce cardiac risk in chronic epilepsy.Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2025Review
- Association of Seizure Control with Mortality, Cognition, and Function in People With Dementia.Annals of neurology · 2025Article
- Mortality in older adults with epilepsy: An understudied entity.Epilepsia open · 2025Review
- Medicare Savings for Seizure Drugs by Adopting the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company Model.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2025Article
- Role of inflammasomes and neuroinflammation in epilepsy.Immunological reviews · 2025Review
- Association of Seizure Control With Cognition in People With Normal Cognition and Mild Cognitive Impairment.Neurology · 2024Article
- Mortality and mortality disparities among people with epilepsy in the United States, 2011-2021.Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · 2024Article
- Chronic evoked seizures in young pre-symptomatic APP/PS1 mice induce serotonin changes and accelerate onset of Alzheimer's disease-related neuropathology.Progress in neurobiology · 2024Article
- Epilepsy is associated with the accelerated aging of brain activity in sleep.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Article
- The brain-heart connection: Value of concurrent ECG and EEG recordings in epilepsy management.Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2024Review
- Increased cardiovascular risk in epilepsy.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionEpilepsy mortality rates are rising. It is unknown whether rates are rising due to an increase in epilepsy prevalence, changes in epilepsy causes of death, increase in the lethality or epilepsy or failures of treatment. To address these questions, we compare epilepsy mortality rates in the USA with all-cause and all-neurological mortality for the years 1999 to 2017.
objectivesTo determine changes in US epilepsy mortality rates versus all-cause mortality, and to evaluate changes in the leading causes of death in people with epilepsy.
designRetrospective population-based multiple cause-of-death study. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Change in age-adjusted epilepsy mortality rates compared with mortality rates for all-cause and all-neurological mortality. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Changes in the leading causes of death in epilepsy.
resultsFrom 1999 to 2017, epilepsy mortality rates in the USA increased 98.8%, from 5.83 per million in 1999 to 11.59 per million (95% CI 88.2%-110.0%), while all-cause mortality declined 16.4% from 8756.34 per million to 7319.17 per million (95% CI 16.3% to 16.6%). For the same period, all-neurological mortality increased 80.8% from 309.21 to 558.97 per million (95% CI 79.4%-82.1%). The proportion of people with epilepsy who died due to neoplasms, vascular dementia and Alzheimer's increased by 52.3%, 210.1% and 216.8%, respectively. During the same period, the proportion who died due to epilepsy declined 27.1%, while ischaemic heart disease as a cause of death fell 42.6% (p<0.001).
conclusionsEpilepsy mortality rates in the USA increased significantly from 1999 to 2017. Likely causes include increases in all-neurological mortality, increased epilepsy prevalence and changes in the underlying causes of death in epilepsy, led by increases in vascular dementia and Alzheimer's. An important finding is that ischaemic heart disease and epilepsy itself are declining as underlying causes of death in people with epilepsy.
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