Predictors of incident epilepsy in older adults

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, incidence, and predictors of epilepsy among older adults in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). METHODS: We analyzed data prospectively collected in CHS and merged with data from outpatient Medicare administrative claims. We identified cases with epilepsy using self-report, antiepileptic medication, hospitalization discharge ICD-9 codes, and outpatient Medicare ICD-9 codes. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to identify factors independently associated with incident epilepsy. RESULTS: < 0.001). In multivariable analyses, risk of incident epilepsy was significantly higher among blacks compared to nonblacks (hazard ratio HR 4.04, 95% confidence interval CI 1.99-8.17), those 75 to 79 compared to those 65 to 69 years of age (HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.21-3.55), and those with history of stroke (HR 3.49, 95% CI 1.37-8.88). CONCLUSIONS: Epilepsy in older adults in the United States was common. Blacks, the very old, and those with history of stroke have a higher risk of incident epilepsy. The association with race remains unexplained.