Highlights
- •Autism and epilepsy often co-occur, which has implications for patient management and outcomes.
- •This study synthesized data on the incidence and prevalence of autism in epilepsy and vice-versa from 74 studies.
- •The median overall period prevalence of epilepsy in people with autism was 12.1% (range: 1.8-60%).
- •The median overall period prevalence of autism in people with epilepsy was 9.0% (range: 0.60-41.9%).
- •The period prevalence of epilepsy in people with autism, and vice-versa, was higher than estimates in general populations.
Abstract
Objective
We aimed to review the literature to determine the incidence and prevalence of autism
in epilepsy and epilepsy in autism, conditions that are often comorbid.
Methods
We adhered to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)
standards, and the protocol was registered with PROSPERO. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO,
and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from inception until
July 4, 2016. Studies were included if they reported an incidence or prevalence of
autism in epilepsy or epilepsy in autism. These estimates were described using mean,
standard deviation, median, and interquartile range.
Results
Seventy-four studies reporting on 283,549 patients were included. The median overall
period prevalence of epilepsy in people with autism was 12.1% while the median overall
period prevalence of autism in people with epilepsy was 9.0% when including all population
types. When excluding studies that investigated patients with syndromic epilepsy or
developmental delay, the median overall period prevalence of epilepsy in people with
autism was 11.2% while the median overall period prevalence of autism in people with
epilepsy was 8.1%. We observed trends for sex as the prevalence of autism in epilepsy
was higher in males while the prevalence of epilepsy in autism was higher in females.
It is important to interpret these estimates with caution, as there was significant
heterogeneity between studies. Meta-regression found no association between study
quality and prevalence or incidence estimates (all p-values > 0.05).
Conclusions
The period prevalence of epilepsy in people with autism, and vice versa, was consistently
higher than previously reported estimates of the occurrence of these disorders in
the general population. These findings highlight the importance of screening for autism
in people who have epilepsy and epilepsy in people who have autism and may help shed
light on shared pathogenesis between these conditions.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 06, 2019
Accepted:
July 12,
2019
Received in revised form:
July 12,
2019
Received:
May 22,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
