Prevalence and related factors of epilepsy in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Chao Gong; Annan Liu; Beibei Lian; Xixi Wu; Pei Zeng; Chaoli Hao; Bobo Wang; Zhimei Jiang; Wei Pang; Jin Guo; Shaobo Zhou

doi:10.3389/fped.2023.1189648

Prevalence and related factors of epilepsy in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Pediatr. 2023 Jul 28:11:1189648. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1189648. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chao Gong¹, Annan Liu¹, Beibei Lian¹, Xixi Wu¹, Pei Zeng¹, Chaoli Hao¹, Bobo Wang¹, Zhimei Jiang^{1

2}, Wei Pang^{1

2}, Jin Guo^{1

2}, Shaobo Zhou³

Affiliations

¹ College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, China.
² Jiamusi University Affiliated No.3 Hospital, Jiamusi, China.
³ School of Science, Faculty of Engineering and Science, University of Greenwich, Medway Campus Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent, England.

Abstract

Objective: To study the worldwide prevalence and associated factors of epilepsy in children and adolescents with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and to analyze the differences between various subgroups.

Method: We identified all potential studies on the prevalence of epilepsy in children and adolescents with CP from PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. The search time was from the establishment of the database to November 2022. Randomized effects meta-analysis models were used to calculate the prevalence of epilepsy in CP. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were utilized to further explore heterogeneity between articles and prevalence disparities between subgroups. The funnel plot and Egger's test were used to investigate potential publication bias.

Results: Seventy-two articles, comprising 53,969 children and adolescents with CP, were included in this study. The results indicated a total epilepsy prevalence of 38.0% (95% CI: 34.8%-41.2%) in CP. The prevalence of epilepsy was 46.4% (95% CI: 41.4%-51.5%) in clinical sample-based studies and 31.6% (95% CI: 28.7%-34.5%) in population-based studies. Meta-regression demonstrated that the sample source, neonatal seizure, family history of epilepsy, EEG or cranial imaging abnormalities, intellectual/cognitive impairment, and topographical types of CP were heterogeneous contributors to the epilepsy prevalence in CP.

Conclusion: Approximately one-third of children and adolescents with CP have epilepsy, and the sample source can significantly impact the total prevalence of epilepsy. Neonatal seizures, family history of epilepsy, EEG abnormalities, cranial imaging abnormalities, severe intellectual disability, and quadriplegia may be contributing factors to epilepsy comorbid in CP. Further study is required to verify the strength of these associations with epilepsy. This study aids in identifying the clinical characteristics of young people with CP at risk of developing epilepsy, which may assist clinicians in the early prevention and diagnosis of epilepsy within this population.Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=367766, identifier CRD42022367766.

Keywords: cerebral palsy; children; epilepsy; meta-analyses; prevalence.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The Heilongjiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation Project (No. LH2020H006) and fund Basic scientific research operating expenses of provincial institutions of higher learning in Heilongjiang Province (NO.2019-KYYWF-1366 and No.2022-KYYWF-0653) supported this study.