POPULATION BASED STUDY OF SEIZURES IN BLACKS AND WHITES

癫痫和癫痫是最常见的神经系统疾病之一。 老年人的精神障碍。癫痫可能以多种方式发生，包括 无法控制的强直和/或阵挛抽动和/或瞬间丧失 意识和/或改变的精神状态。癫痫的病因 可能被识别(有症状)或无法识别 (特发性/低温)，初始事件可能发生在 生活。癫痫发作的临床分类方案 脑电特征和识别的综合征已经被提出 允许比较不同研究的结果。然而，到目前为止，几乎没有人 研究一直集中在非高加索人或老年人身上。这个 这项以人群为基础的研究的目标是确定患病率和 老年非裔美国人和老年人癫痫和癫痫的发病率 参加ARIC(动脉粥样硬化风险)的高加索人 社区)研究。 我们建议分析作为ARIC研究的一部分收集的数据，a 由15,792名自由生活居民组成的前瞻性队列研究 来自北卡罗来纳州福赛斯县，密苏里州杰克逊，明尼阿波利斯/明尼苏达州圣保罗， 和马里兰州华盛顿县。ARIC基线检查是 在1987-1989年间进行，在此期间培训面试者 收集的病史和危险因素信息，血液 压力测量、肺功能研究和其他 关联的测量结果。ARIC第二次访问的数据(1990- 1992年)也是同样收集的。ARIC访问三项数据分别为 目前正在收集(1993-1995年)，ARIC将访问四个数据 在本研究期间(1996-1999年)收集的数据。使用这些 数据，我们建议(1)通过以下方式确定癫痫发作的频率 根据种族和性别估计该人群中的流行率 描述按年龄、性别和性别定义的亚组中的流行率 地点；(2)比较所选癫痫的患病率 和VCD危险因素；和(3)决定癫痫的发生率 在这群非裔美国人和高加索人中。年龄- 将按性别和种族群体估计调整后的发病率 我们会将ARIC的累积发病率与 在明尼苏达州罗切斯特。 这项研究集中在两组未被充分研究的癫痫发作患者。 --老年人和非裔美国人。关于流行性和流行性疾病的研究 ARIC数据中的癫痫发生率，特别是在与 已经收集的广泛的心血管疾病风险因素数据可以提供 数据对了解癫痫的病因和 癫痫，并补充在其他地方获得的医疗信息 项目。

Seizures and epilepsy are among the most common neurologic disorders in the elderly. Seizure can occur in many ways, including uncontrollable tonic and/or clonic jerks and/or a momentary loss of consciousness and/or altered mental state. The etiology of the seizure may be recognized (symptomatic) or unrecognized (idiopathic/cryogenic), and the initial event may occur at any stage of life. Classification schemes for epileptic seizures according to clinical and EEG features and recognized syndromes have been proposed that allows comparison of results across studies. To date, however, few studies have been focused on non-Caucasians or on the elderly. The goal of this population-based study is to determine the prevalence and incidence of seizures and epilepsy among older African-Americans and Caucasians participating in the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study. We propose to analyze data collected as part of the ARIC study, a prospective cohort study consisting of 15,792 free-living residents from Forsyth County, NC, Jackson, MS, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, and Washington County, MD. The ARIC baseline examination was conducted between 1987-1989, during which trained interviewers collected information on medical history and risk factors, blood pressure measurements, pulmonary function studies, and other associated measurements. Data from the second ARIC visit (1990- 1992) have similarly been collected. ARIC visit three data are currently being collected (1993-1995), and ARIC visit four data will be collected during the period of this study (1996-1999). Using these data, we propose to (1) Determine the frequency of seizures by estimating the prevalence in this populations bey ethnicity and describing the prevalence within subgroups defined by age, sex, and location; (2) Compare the prevalence with respect to selected epilepsy and VCD risk factors; and (3) Determine the incidence of seizures among this population of African-American and Caucasians. Age- adjusted incidence rates by sex and by ethnic group will be estimated and we will compare the cumulative incidence rates in ARIC with that in Rochester, MN. This study focuses on two understudied groups with respect to seizures -- the elderly and African-Americans. Studies of the prevalence and incidence of seizures in the ARIC data, especially when coupled with the extensive, already collected, CVD risk factor data, can provide data of importance to understanding the etiology of seizures and epilepsy, and complement the medical information obtained in other projects.