Prevalence and treatment of epilepsy in Yakutia

Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases, which is based on a persistent predisposition to epileptic seizures, leading to a variety of medical and social consequences and a decrease in the quality of life. According to the World Health Organization, epilepsy accounts for a significant portion of the global burden of disease, affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide. The estimated proportion of the general population with active epilepsy (i.e., ongoing seizures or requiring treatment) at any given time is between 4 and 10 per 1,000 people. The prevalence of epilepsy in the Russian Federation, standardized by sex and age, is 3.22 people per 1,000 population, and the incidence is 14.8 per 100,000. The population. The prevalence of epilepsy was higher in Siberia and the Far East compared to the European part of the Russian Federation. According to preliminary data, 4,566 patients with various forms of epilepsy were registered in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 2023, with a prevalence of 6.3 per 1,000 population. The majority of patients with epilepsy (59 %) live in the districts of the republic. A sample of patients from Yakutsk and the districts of the republic was studied. According to the conducted research, it was found that 67.9 % of epilepsy patients are constantly being monitored by a neurologist. A representative randomized sample shows comparative data on adult epilepsy in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The median patient with epilepsy in Yakutia is a 40–year-old young man living in the district suffering from structural focal epilepsy with bilateral tonic-clonic seizures. Most of the patients were taking oldgeneration antiepileptic drugs.