ArticleClinical epidemiology2026
Long-Term Health Care Utilization Among Mothers of Children with Epilepsy - Including Psychiatric and Surgical Services: A 20-Year National Cohort Study.
Article in Clinical epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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3 authors.
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Abstract
Purpose: Mothers of children with epilepsy (MCE) face elevated risks of psychological stress and psychiatric disorders, yet their overall health care utilization post-diagnosis remains underexplored. Understanding these patterns may inform more integrated, evidence-based care for affected families. Patients and methods: A population-based cohort study using national health registry data in Denmark. From 1990 to 2017, 18,775 MCE were matched on maternal age, gestational age, child's sex and age at epilepsy diagnosis with up to 10 mothers without a child diagnosed with epilepsy (n = 188,630) and followed until 2018. Period prevalence was calculated as the proportion of MCE health care utilization (HCU). We compared period prevalence of health care utilization (HCU)-including primary care, inpatient, outpatient, psychiatric, and surgical contacts-between MCE and matched comparators using modified Poisson regression to estimate risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Mean annual HCU was visualized, and rate ratios were derived via negative binomial regression. Analyses were stratified by follow-up periods: 0-5, 6-10, and 11-20 years post-index. Results: Over 20-years' follow-up, MCE showed higher HCU than comparators across all services except primary care, which remained comparable. The RR of outpatient visits and surgical care contacts were slightly increased over the follow-up period. The risk of using psychiatric services was higher for MCE compared to the comparison cohort and increased over time, being 35% higher during the period of 11-20 years of follow-up (RR Conclusion: Mothers of children with epilepsy had more health care use across hospital services compared with matched mothers of children without epilepsy, regardless of the child's age at diagnosis. These findings underscore the need for proactive mental health support and integrated care planning for mothers to mitigate long-term psychological burden.
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