A survey on the association of seizure disorders with asthma and allergies in children

Abstract

Background. Little is known about the relationship between allergic diseases and seizure disorders including epilepsy. It is hypothesized that inflammation from allergic diseases may predispose children to seizures. the aim of this study is to investigate frequency of seizure disorder in children with asthma and allergy. Methods. A cross-sectional survey study of parents of 1300 children and adolescents under 20 years of age referred to the Allergy and Asthma Clinic of Imam Ali Hospital (Karaj) who were asked to complete a screening questionnaire for seizures in their children. Parents who reported any history of seizures in their children were contacted to answer a second in-depth questionnaire to determine more detail of type, triggers, and treatment of seizures. Results. A total of 705 males (62%) and 433 females (38%) participated in this study, with a mean and standard age of 6.62±4.57 years. Among them, 70.6% had asthma, 15.2% had allergic rhinitis, 5.6% had atopic dermatitis, 3.5% had urticaria, 2.7% had food allergies, 1% had drug allergies, and 1.4% had other allergic diseases. Additionally, 88 patients (7.7%) had a history of doctor-diagnosed seizures, 57 patients (5%) had febrile convulsions, and 15 patients (1.31%) had idiopathic epilepsy. There was no significant relationship found between febrile convulsions, seizures, and epilepsy with the type of allergic diseases. However, a significant association was observed between the number of comorbid allergic diseases in patients with febrile convulsions (OR=1.4, 95% CI: 1.07-1.83, P=0.013).There was also an association between the epilepsy and comorbid allergic diseases number with an odds ratio OR=1.84, 95% CI=0.28-12, however the risk of epilepsy was increased by 0.84 percent but this increase was not significant. Regarding the relation between the number of allergic diseases in parents and idiopathic epilepsy in their children, a significant association was found only for mothers (OR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.04-2.23, P=0.024), but not for fathers (P>0.05). Conclusions febrile convulsion is associated with the .number of comorbid allergic diseases in children and the mother's number of allergic diseases is more related to idiopathic epilepsy in children than the father's. Impact statement:Little is known about the relationship between allergic diseases and seizure disorders. The significance of this study is that number of comorbid allergic diseases in one patient is more related to development of some types of seizures than the type of allergic disease.