PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the mortality risks of hospitalized patients with epilepsy (PWE).
METHODS: Our data source was extracted from discharge abstracts in a hospital medical database. Various clinical variables, including demographical characteristics, natural features of epilepsy, and comprehensive set of comorbidities, were screened to investigate the risk. Comorbidities were defined using a validated ICD-10-based classification. The distributions of comorbid conditions and demographics were presented. In-hospital mortality rates of groups with epilepsy and without epilepsy were compared. Logistic regression was applied to explore the important predictors of in-hospital mortality.
RESULTS: A cohort of 11,422 PWE (male: 58.5%, mean age: 40.2?years) was recruited for the study. The most common comorbidities were cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, and peripheral vascular disease, which accounted for 23.5%, 18.8%, and 8.0% of the study cohort, respectively. In-hospital mortality rates were 2.9% and 1.1% in the epilepsy and nonepilepsy cohort, respectively. Male patients exhibited an increased risk of death (odds ratio (OR)?=?1.2; 95% confidence interval (CI)?=?1.0-1.6). Patients aged over 65?years were more likely to die than those below 18?years (OR?=?18.2; 95% CI?=?8.8-31.0). Patients with comorbidities, including central nervous system (CNS) infections, renal disease, traumatic brain and head injuries, anoxic brain injury, metastatic cancer, pulmonary circulation disorders, encephalopathy, solid tumor without metastasis, cardiac arrhythmias, and diabetes without complication, had a higher risk of in-hospital death than patients without comorbidities.
CONCLUSION: The in-hospital mortality of people with epilepsy increased remarkably with age, and this parameter was predominant in male patients. Central nervous system infection, renal disease, traumatic brain and head injuries, anoxic brain injury, metastatic cancer, pulmonary circulation disorders, encephalopathy, solid tumor without metastasis, cardiac arrhythmias, and diabetes without complication were the most important comorbidities associated with in-hospital death.