Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37393862›Full record

ArticleSeizure2023

Epilepsy-related mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: A nationwide study of routine Scottish data.

Gashirai K Mbizvo, Christian Schnier, Julie Ramsay, Susan E Duncan, Richard Fm Chin

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Seizure, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Gashirai K MbizvoMuir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom; Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool and Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Gashirai.Mbizvo@liverpool.ac.uk.
Christian SchnierUsher Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Julie RamsayVital Events Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Susan E DuncanMuir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Richard Fm ChinMuir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary · GBNational Records of Scotland · GBRoyal Hospital for Children · GBUniversity of Edinburgh · GBUniversity of Liverpool · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo examine whether epilepsy-related deaths increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and if the proportion with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause is different between people experiencing epilepsy-related deaths and those experiencing deaths unrelated to epilepsy.

methodsThis was a Scotland-wide, population-based, cross-sectional study of routinely-collected mortality data pertaining to March-August of 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic peak) compared to the corresponding periods in 2015-2019. ICD-10-coded causes of death of deceased people of any age were obtained from a national mortality registry of death certificates in order to identify those experiencing epilepsy-related deaths (coded G40-41), deaths with COVID-19 listed as a cause (coded U07.1-07.2), and deaths unrelated to epilepsy (death without G40-41 coded). The number of epilepsy-related deaths in 2020 were compared to the mean observed through 2015-2019 on an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model (overall, men, women). Proportionate mortality and odds ratios (OR) for deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause were determined for the epilepsy-related deaths compared to deaths unrelated to epilepsy, reporting 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

resultsA mean number of 164 epilepsy-related deaths occurred through March-August of 2015-2019 (of which a mean of 71 were in women and 93 in men). There were subsequently 189 epilepsy-related deaths during the pandemic March-August 2020 (89 women, 100 men). This was 25 more epilepsy-related deaths (18 women, 7 men) compared to the mean through 2015-2019. The increase in women was beyond the mean year-to-year variation seen in 2015-2019. Proportionate mortality with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause was similar between people experiencing epilepsy-related deaths (21/189, 11.1%, CI 7.0-16.5%) and deaths unrelated to epilepsy (3,879/27,428, 14.1%, CI 13.7-14.6%), OR 0.76 (CI 0.48-1.20). Ten of 18 excess epilepsy-related deaths in women had COVID-19 listed as an additional cause.

conclusionsThere is little evidence to suggest there have been any major increases in epilepsy-related deaths in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is a common underlying cause of both epilepsy-related and unrelated deaths.

Indexed as

COVID-19EpilepsyCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMalePandemicsScotlandAdministrative dataCoronavirus disease 2019FatalitySeizuresSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2SUDEP

Identifiers

PMID37393862
PMCPMC10257947
OpenAlexW4380248602

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.