Accident risk in patients with epilepsy.

Objective: To compare the risk of accidents in patients with uncontrolled seizures, in seizure-free patients, and in patients with chronic headache.

Method: This was a prospective longitudinal case-controlled study with interviews. A semi-structured questionnaire was used in the epilepsy and headache outpatient clinics of the Hospital das Clínicas of UNICAMP.

Results: Group I was composed of 48 patients with uncontrolled seizures, group II was composed of 24 seizure-free patients and group III was composed of 32 patients with headache. Thirty-nine patients (81%) in group I, 13 (54%) in group II, and 19 (59%) in group III reported accidents in the last two years. In the first group, 649 accidents (89%) were related to epileptic seizures and the average number of accidents not related to seizures was 1.7. The average number of accidents in groups II and III were both 2.4.

Conclusion: Epileptic seizure was the most important factor determining the occurrence of accidents in people with epilepsy.