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Advanced Neurology

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Seizure precipitants among patients at two

major referral hospitals in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study (2019)

1
Michael Tesfaye Ketema * , Amanuel Amare , Meron Awraris 1 , Yohannes
1
Debebe , and Jemal Haidar 2
1
1 Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2 Department of Health and Nutrition, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Addis
Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment
of epilepsy)

Abstract

Seizure precipitants, which precede the onset of an epileptic seizure, are considered
responsible for an epileptic attack. The ultimate goal of treating patients with epilepsy
(PWE) is to maintain a seizure-free state with the appropriate treatment. Despite the
anti-epileptic treatment, some patients may continue to experience seizures. This
study aimed to study the seizure-provoking factors to generate evidence-based
*Corresponding author: information for better management of patients. A facility-based cross-sectional study
Michael Tesfaye Ketema was conducted at two major referral hospitals with large patient flow in Addis Ababa,
(michaeltesfaye78@gmail.com) Ethiopia, from October 2018 to September 2019. PWEs who had been receiving anti-
Citation: Ketema M, Amare A, epileptic treatment before the study were consecutively enrolled until the desired
Awraris M, Debebe Y, Haidar J. sample size was reached using a convenient sampling technique. A total of 184 PWEs
Seizure precipitants among patients
at two major referral hospitals in were enrolled. The prevalence of precipitating factors among epilepsy patients was
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A cross- 94%. The most commonly reported precipitating factors were stress (70.1%), missing
sectional study (2019). Adv Neurol. anti-epileptic dose (57.1%), and inadequate sleep (32.1%). Our findings unveiled
2025;4(4):58-65.
doi: 10.36922/an.7679 factors that precipitate seizures in PWEs and demonstrated the potential of avoiding
these factors to reduce the incidence of seizures. It is therefore essential to increase
Received: December 16, 2024
patients’ awareness to focus on non-pharmacological therapy in addition to their
1st revised: May 31, 2025 regular treatment for better management.
2nd revised: June 18, 2025
Accepted: June 20, 2025 Keywords: Epilepsy; Seizure; Precipitating factors; Ethiopia
Published online: July 24, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Epilepsy is a chronic disorder affecting millions of patients worldwide. It is one of the
1
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, world’s oldest recognized conditions, with written records dating back to 4000 BC.
provided the original work is Fear, misunderstanding, discrimination, and social stigma have surrounded epilepsy
properly cited. for centuries. It is the most prevalent neurological disorder. Approximately 50 million
2
3
Publisher’s Note: AccScience people currently live with epilepsy globally. The estimated proportion of the general
Publishing remains neutral with population with active epilepsy (i.e., continuing seizures or with the need for treatment)
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional at a given time is between 4 and 10/1,000 people. However, studies from low- and middle-
affiliations. income countries (LMICs) suggest that the prevalence may be significantly higher,

Volume 4 Issue 4 (2025) 58 doi: 10.36922/an.7679