Epidemiological analysis of the distribution of child and adolescent deaths due to epilepsy in Brazil between 2012 and 2022

*Correspondence: [e-mail].

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy is associated with high mortality, especially in children and adolescents, who are the main affected population. The major causes of death in this group are Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, accidents, “status epilepticus”, suicide and epilepsy surgery.

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological distribution of deaths of children and adolescents due to epilepsy in Brazil.

Methods: It is a quantitative-descriptive ecological study, with data from the Department of Informatics of SUS - DATASUS - obtained from the SUS Hospital Information System (SIH/SUS), with the variables: region, year of care (2012 to 2022), mortality rate, deaths; and the selections: epilepsy and age group 1.

Results: Between 2012 and 2022, 1,508 deaths of children and adolescents up to 19 years old due to epilepsy were recorded in Brazil, the Southeast (SE) region concentrated the majority of cases with 516 deaths (34,22%), slightly ahead of the Northeast (NE) region - 506. As for the mortality rate, however, the North (N) region stands out (0.92 deaths/1000 people), followed by the NE and SE regions, with 0.75 and 0.54, respectively. This might indicate a deficit in healthcare for epilepsy in that age group in the North and Northeast regions. Moreover, the highest mortality rate was in children under 1 year old, with a value of 0.96, followed by the range of 15 to 19 years old (0.89). The North region had the highest mortality rate in the youngest age group, 1.43.

Conclusion: The distribution of deaths from epilepsy between 0 and 19 years of age in Brazil has the Southeast as leader, with values slightly above those of the Northeast. However, regarding the mortality rate, the North stands out in relation to both regions, also presenting the worst rates for the extremes analyzed. More studies are needed to analyze the influence of regional variants on mortality in this population.

Publication History

Article published online:
12 May 2025