Children with epilepsy as adults: outcome after 30 years of follow-up.

Abstract

The study dealt with a representative sample of the epileptic population in southwestern Finland, followed up prospectively for 23-39 years. At the end of the follow-up period, 55.5% of the original sample, i.e. 63.2% of the subjects who participated in the last follow-up evaluation, or 76.4% of those who were alive at that time, had not had epileptic attacks for at least the previous three years. A total of 60% lived independently; 21% of subjects, on the other hand, were not gainfully employed and lived in institutions. The intermediate group was the smallest (less than 18%); these were receiving a disability pension but had not been institutionalized. A certain polarization thus seemed to take place here: the epileptic patient either lead a normal life or was in institutional care. The intermediate group showed a steady decline in size in the course of the follow-up.