Seizure precipitant factors among persons with epilepsy with a view to develop a teaching module

Purpose: The study focused on identifying the precipitant factors related to the onset of seizure attack in person with epilepsy (PWE) and to develop a teaching module on preventable precipitating factors (PF). Materials and Methods: A semi structured interview schedule was used to assess the seizure PF among 100 patients with epilepsy in the last and past seizure attack attending the epilepsy clinic of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi. (AIMS) Descriptive and inferential biostatistics was used to analyse the data. Results: 72% of the participants identified at least one PF. The first three PF reported in the last seizure attack and past attack were sleep deprivation 58(58%), missing anti epileptic drug 34(34%) emotional stress 21(21%), and sleep deprivation 45(45%), missing anti epileptic drug 21(21%), emotional stress 17(17%) respectively. Conclusion: Prompt recognition and management of seizure precipitants has practical implications for treating patients with refractory epilepsy. Such patients can be counselled to avoid the specific seizure precipitants.